AN: Hey guys! It's good to be back! First chapter of the year and it's gonna be a brilliant one! So just a little background first...think of this as the premiere of a new season on "Marauding the Timeline" hahah You'll see a lot of changes in this month of the story and they're all gonna be fast-paced.
The next special will be published when we feel like it because as it turns out, our lives are too busy at the moment for us to be able to publish in time for holidays and special occasions. It was a good idea until it stopped working for us. Sorry guys! But real life comes first.
Hope everyone had a great new year though! And a special Christmas too.
So at this point in the story, you'll see several time jumps. Now that Draco knows everything and the Marauders know that he knows everything, you'll see just how much this changes their relationship with him. You'll also start to see a change in how Dumbledore talks to Draco. You'll also see a lot of the wizarding war progressing. And more relationship stuff is coming after the holidays in the story.
Thanks and enjoy the chapter! SOOO good to be back.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. Thanks
CHAPTER 22: THE SERVILE SERPENT
"Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction on how to produce it. But know this, wicked is as wicked comes. And to create such wickedness, a wizard must not cherish the thing he ought to cherish the most—his soul."
Draco's fingertip ran along these words, taking them in with caution. He surveyed the page carefully, his mind filling up with files of information he wasn't yet ready to process. The book was helpful, yeah, but it still wasn't answering the questions he desperately needed answered. And soon, too.
James abruptly filled the seat in front of him then, making him look up in alarm and completely forget the passage he'd just read. He was mighty shocked to see him there, and was about to smile too, when he suddenly noticed the strange (dark, even) look on James' face. The smile that had been hinting its way onto his face was instantly gone.
"What's wrong?" Draco said, preparing for the worst, sure that James would finally tell him now. Tonight.
James gave him a long, hard look, before answering, in a very un-James voice, "There's something you need to know..."
48 days before
"NO," Remus repeated for probably the hundredth time that week.
"Come on," said James.
"No way!" Remus continued. "Nuh-uh. Not happening. Nope."
"Well it's not really your decision to make, is it, Moony?" said Draco.
"Ouch," said Sirius, letting out a low whistle.
It was Wednesday afternoon, the middle of November, and the five friends were walking down the corridor to the dungeons for their last lesson of the day. It had been a long day, especially since James had insisted that Draco and Sirius wake up early to go on a morning run with him, despite their having first period off. But today also marked the eighteenth day that the boys had spent trying to convince Remus that Draco joining them as an animagus was their most brilliant idea yet.
"I don't care how amazing you think it'll be, Draco, the answer's no," he kept repeating. But Draco wasn't taking any of this seriously. After all, it wasn't Remus' decision to make. And Draco had already made up his mind, even on Halloween. He was going to do this.
James and Sirius were completely on board, and Peter too. They had even already taken the liberty of writing out all the rules and instructions for the procedure for Draco to have a look over. But Remus was going to be a piece of work. They all knew this.
The procedure was complicated as all hell, of course, but nothing Draco couldn't handle. He knew he'd need help with the leaf part though, but everything else ought to be pretty easy. After all, he'd learned the Patronus Charm pretty quickly, even surprising Dumbledore, not to mention himself. How hard could it be to become an animagus, really?
If Peter Pettigrew could manage it...
"Pete's the only one of us who can't do the full form of the Patronus Charm," Sirius had explained to him one night. "But he's a damn good animagus, I'll tell you that."
"Rat, right?"
"Yep. He mastered it right around the same time that we all did actually."
"How long did it take overall?"
"Two months."
Draco couldn't believe it. Sirius talked about it like it was so damn easy. Two whole months spent working on one procedure. That was commitment, right there.
"Ah, come in, come in everyone, I have a very interesting lesson planned for today," Professor Slughorn declared once they reached the Potions room in the dungeons.
The five friends automatically made for their usual table before anyone else could try to steal it away. Draco bumped into Mary on the way there and she gave him a smile in return. He occupied a seat in between Sirius and Peter and flipped through his Advanced Potion Making book, feeling too tired and out of it for an "interesting lesson".
Luckily, Slughorn's idea of an "interesting lesson" was one he'd already perpetrated, or rather, would perpetrate years later when Draco was really supposed to be doing his sixth year at Hogwarts. It was a complete repeat of his lesson on the advanced functions of alchemy and its many properties and historical significances. None of it was news to Draco so, despite his total fascination with alchemy, he spent the lesson doodling randomly in his notebook while passing notes with Sirius, as per usual.
We can start the animagus process with you this weekend if you're ready for it, he suggested.
What about Remus, Draco asked in spite of himself. He knew he wasn't going to ask his friend's permission to do this, but he still didn't feel right about doing it without his approval.
Remus will be thanking you later when you're with us on our moon adventures, Sirius wrote.
Draco smiled at the idea of accompanying his friends on one of their full moons. It was definitely something he looked forward to.
Perhaps next weekend. I've got to meet Dumbledore this weekend and he's already cancelled the next meeting because of Quidditch so we can do this after the match.
Sirius nodded his approval. He, out of all the marauders, was most excited for this.
After Slughorn's lesson, Draco excused himself from the boys to go and meet Severus down in the seventh floor corridor. It had been nearly a week since they'd last talked, mainly because of how busy classes were getting, so he definitely wanted this opportunity to see him. But unfortunately, when Draco met him, he realized that Severus was not going to drop this 'following puppy' act anytime soon, like he'd hoped he would.
Ever since the moon, or rather, since Draco's little talk with Severus day after Halloween, Severus had been acting very mysteriously obedient and proper and normal…he was agreeing with everything Draco was saying and telling him all the things that Draco wanted to hear. He was acting like...like...like Draco was now Wilkes...looking up to him, afraid to speak when not spoken to... it was driving Draco absolutely mad! He'd of course been relieved when he'd managed to convince Severus to keep quiet about Remus, but this wasn't what he'd had in mind.
Wilkes had taken up residency at St. Mungo's at the end of October and was reportedly there ever since, so not having him around definitely made things easier with Severus, but Draco had no desire whatsoever to become the new troop leader for the Slytherin Gang. Not in this timeline, anyway.
As for Regulus, that situation had sadly not improved in the slightest. Draco hadn't spoken to the kid (or rather, the other way around) in over three weeks, and therefore had no idea what was going on in his life. But there was one thing Draco knew for sure, even now. He wasn't giving up on Regulus just yet.
"I've spoken with him but he's been fairly quiet ever since Wilkes..." said Severus now, his voice trailing off slightly. "I-I can try talking to him again if it'll help."
"No that's fine," said Draco. "Don't bother him with it—he'll come to me when he's ready."
"Alright," said Severus.
Draco sighed. He really didn't like him talking to him like this and he knew that one of these days he was going to flip. And it wasn't going to be pretty.
"The others aren't really doing much these days either," he continued now. "I mean, not that I know anyway...let's face it, they've seen me hanging out with you a lot and, considering who you're friends with, well...they don't really tend to tell me much anymore."
"Maybe that's for the best, Severus," said Draco.
"I don't know, you think?" said Severus, uncertainly. "I mean, yeah you're probably right."
Yeah, it definitely wasn't going to be pretty.
After his meeting with Severus, Draco stopped by the library to stock up on books for the Charms essay that Flitwick had assigned earlier that day. He spotted Mary and Lily sitting in a corner table, whispering about something, but didn't bother coming over to say hi. They hadn't noticed him there either so it wasn't like he was obligated to.
He found all the books that he needed and approached Madame Pince's desk when his eye suddenly caught a figure lurking near the "Restricted Section" double doors on the front end. Draco narrowed his eyes at Regulus, who caught his eye suddenly and quickly walked away before Draco could even approach him.
"Mr. Black?" said Madame Pince, impatiently.
Draco turned to look at her.
"What?" he said.
"Your books," she said, tapping her foot.
Draco looked back at the "Restricted Section" double doors and then at the frustrated librarian.
"Oh," he said, stepping towards her and dumping them on the desk.
She pulled out her quill and started marking down the books on her list. Then, she handed it to him and he signed his initials while still checking the double doors every few seconds.
"Great, thanks," he told her, taking the books in his arms and turning to leave.
"Who's D.M?" she called after him.
Draco froze.
"Mr. Black, I don't have time for your funny games! If you need to take out a book for someone else then they need to be here to—"
"You misread it, Madame," he said quickly, turning back and grabbing the quill from her to scribble a large letter 'B' over the M. He then gave her an apologetic look and hurried out of the library before anyone could fully comprehend what had just happened. He didn't slow down until he reached Gryffindor Tower, at which point he ran into Frank and a couple of his seventh-year buddies.
"Hey Draco, watcha doin' there?" Frank asked, while his friends carried on, neverminding that he was no longer walking with them.
"Just a visit to the library, Frank," Draco said, simply, gesturing to the armful of books.
Frank took one look at them and then shook his head. "I always thought you'd become a James or a Sirius, but never a Remus."
Draco grinned and bumped fists with Frank before he left again.
He spent the next couple of days dreading the thing he knew he had no way to get out of—his meeting with Dumbledore on Saturday night. For the last couple of meetings, Dumbledore told him to pretend like the thing with Wilkes never happened and to just focus on his legilimency. And this was easy enough to do, except that the more Draco practiced legilimency, or rather, the closer he got to figuring it out, the more he realized that Severus was close to figuring it out too. Or at least, he knew how to block it. Well.
But Dumbledore didn't help Draco get his mind off the lessons by looking at him all the time in the Great Hall. Even when he wasn't there, Draco could somehow feel him watching him, and it was irritating as all hell.
So then finally, on Saturday night, Draco left the marauders in the common room and headed down to Dumbledore's office, keeping in mind that whatever excuse he used this time, he still wouldn't be able to fool Dumbledore into thinking that he'd been practicing controlling his mind, like he'd promised he would.
As usual, he knocked three times on Dumbledore's door before letting himself in. And as usual, he found Dumbledore at his desk, writing something on a piece of paper. He looked up, smiled, tapped the paper with his wand to make it disappear, and gestured at the chair in front of him, just like he did every meeting. Draco pulled his wand out and set it on the table as he slipped into his usual spot. And Dumbledore's smile lessened slightly.
"You look very tired, Draco, is something the matter?"
"I was just up late studying, sir," Draco lied.
Dumbledore probably already knew that he and James had goofed around the castle with his invisibility cloak instead of sleeping like they were supposed to.
"Well, are you feeling up to some practice tonight?"
"Definitely," Draco responded.
He then noticed the long red line printed on Dumbledore's left cheek. He was about to ask him about it when Dumbledore suddenly frowned.
"You know, Draco, I feel like we have already mastered down your focus and energy levels. Perhaps you are ready to start working with the wand?"
Draco stared at him to see if he was serious.
"Are you...?" he said, not even believing it himself. "You really think I'm ready for that, professor?"
Dumbledore smiled again and handed Draco his wand. "Let's just give it a try, shall we?"
Draco took the wand, rotated it between his fingers a couple of times and then stood from his chair at the same time that Dumbledore stood from his. They moved to the open area of the office and stood facing each other. Dumbledore placed his hands behind his back and waited. Draco noticed that he'd left his own wand on his desk.
"Wait but sir," he said, suddenly, "If you don't have your wand with you then you can't protect yourself in case something goes wrong!"
"Then I must trust that nothing will go wrong," Dumbledore said simply.
Draco frowned. Well this wasn't any pressure at all!
"Whenever you're ready," Dumbledore said.
Draco closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. Hand shaking slightly, he pointed his wand at Dumbledore and concentrated very hard on connecting their minds. He thought of every moment that they had shared in this timeline, starting at the very beginning and slowly working his way up to the present day. He skimmed over the patronus lessons or any of the emotional stuff, so as not to let his emotions get the best of him again, and thought instead of all the other moments and all the things they'd talked about. Then, once he felt that his mind was fully and completely concentrated, he uttered the incantation Legilimens.
Dumbledore instantly let out a groan and bent down to one knee, his head bent also. Seeing this, Draco stumbled backwards and fell over a step, letting his wand roll away.
Dumbledore took a few deep breaths and looked up at him.
"Try again," he said, getting back up.
Gasping, Draco stood back up shakily.
"But...professor!"
"Again, Draco," Dumbledore repeated, straightening up and placing his hands behind him again. "This is all part of your training."
"Training for what though?" Draco finally blurted out.
Dumbledore paused.
"I mean seriously, why are we doing all of this? And why won't you really tell me what's going on? And why the bloody hell do you have a mark on your left cheek?!"
Dumbledore tilted his head slightly, a curious but no-longer-smiling expression on his face. "Forgive me, Draco, but I don't see how any of that should concern you."
"You don't—"
"I suggest you just take the lessons that I am offering you and concentrate on them only, and nothing else," he said, now with a bolder tone.
Draco nodded and picked up his wand again.
"Focus," Dumbledore told him.
So Draco did. And once again, his mind totally alert, he pointed and uttered. And again, Dumbledore groaned, his eyes shut painfully, and Draco, who kept getting scared at the sounds that Dumbledore was making, kept improperly pulling out of the spell, thus landing him on the floor again and again.
This went on for the next twenty minutes or so, until Dumbledore finally waved his arm for Draco to stop and slowly made his way back to his desk, sinking into his chair and taking a few tired breaths.
"Alright," he breathed, "That's enough practice for one night."
"But, professor, I don't get why you won't just use a protective—"
"That won't motivate you to learn any quicker," Dumbledore interrupted, his eyes closed.
A long moment of silence ensued, during which Draco silently kicked himself for being so clumsy with his incantation or for even letting his wand slip out of his fingers.
"The scar is from a muggle's knife," Dumbledore said, quietly. Draco gaped at him. "Last night there was another rally, this time in the muggle street adjacent to Diagon Alley. The Death Eaters were after every last man, woman, or child who happened to be walking along that street."
"But why?" said Draco. "I thought they were just interested in overthrowing the ministry."
Dumbledore opened his eyes now and a sad look crossed his face. "They wanted to send the ministry a message."
Draco thought for a minute. "A message that they are not afraid to show themselves to the muggles?"
"Precisely," said Dumbledore.
"So how'd you get cut then, sir?"
Dumbledore looked away from him now, and it was a long time before he said, very quietly, "The muggles didn't know which of us to fear."
"Wait," said Draco, sitting up, "Didn't? Do—are they...?"
Dumbledore turned back to him and nodded.
"But why...how could you...?"
"...let this happen, you ask?" said Dumbledore. "I've been asking myself that question for twenty-four hours now and I've come to the same conclusion as I did last night...I am not invincible. I do not have the power to protect every man on this earth, magic or not." He smiled slightly. "I am not a god, Draco."
Draco sighed. "Were any of ours injured?"
"Not many," said Dumbledore, "But injuries are a risk you have to take when walking into a war." He ran his fingers along his cheek. "I know I have."
"Hey mate, are you feeling okay? You don't look well," said James when Draco saw him and the others at breakfast next day.
"Fine," Draco said, taking the goblet of juice that Peter offered him now.
"Did something happen?" Remus wondered.
"I just didn't sleep really well," Draco answered, drinking and turning to look at the staff table, where Dumbledore's seat was the only unoccupied one.
"What is he always off doing?" he wondered, drinking some more.
"Who, Dumbledore?" said Sirius, and the others also looked over at the staff table. "Who knows, probably really important headmaster stuff."
"How did your lesson go with him last night?" Remus asked Draco, who now looked away from the staff table.
"Fine," he mumbled. "Same as usual, you know?"
"What do you guys do though?" said James. "I mean we know he taught you the Patronus Charm but now you know it. And you're at the top of like every class, except for muggle studies…"
"Muggle studies is stupid..." Draco mumbled.
James grinned at him.
"I dunno," Draco answered now, "We just...do additional stuff..."
"Such as?" said Sirius.
Draco thought back on the dream he'd had last night, where he was the only Death Eater in that muggle street and all the muggles were covered in their own blood and chasing him with sharpened knives. Somehow, he hadn't thought to bring a wand along on this crazy dream of his. And it didn't help that he kept waking up at night all covered in sweat and panicked. At least none of the boys had noticed...
"Um, maybe he wants to make me fit for some kind of ministry job, I dunno," he answered instead.
James raised his eyebrows and Remus smiled pleasantly. "Oh really? Which one?"
"I dunno," said Draco, looking round at all the boys. "He hasn't told me anything, it's just my best guess."
"But why would Dumbledore want you to take up a job at the ministry?" said Sirius.
"Guys," Remus stepped in, "He's his adoptive son! It's only natural for Dumbledore to want Draco to have the very best future possible. He probably feels really protective over him and just wants him to do really well in life."
"Hey, I'd cheer for you to be Minister," said James, punching Draco lightly on the shoulder. "Anyone's better than that old Minchum prat."
"You just said a mouthful there, mate," Sirius agreed.
Draco laughed lightly at the idea of ever becoming Minister of Magic. Quite frankly, he was amused by how the boys reacted to this…even more amused than he was by his own new and improved ability to tell lies and fibblets by the snap of the fingers. Heck, he didn't even stutter anymore.
Draco thought that his next week would be horrendous but as soon as he arrived at his first lesson on Monday morning, he forgot all about Dumbledore and the story of the muggle rally. In fact, the entire day he thought of nothing but school. The teachers were really starting to pile on work in preparation for the end of term exams that they'd all have to write just before the holidays. Draco already knew most of everything that he was studying but it didn't take away from the fact that he still had to write all those essays and hand them in. It was too bad he couldn't just walk up to each of his teachers and recite a whole speech about whatever topics he had to write about. Honestly, that'd make life so much easier.
Finally, his afternoon free period arrived and, exhausted from the day's work, he headed straight for the seventh floor corridor to meet Severus, who was already sitting there.
"How's it going?" Draco said, also sitting down.
"It's fine, and you?" said Severus.
"Fine too," said Draco without looking at him. He pulled his books out and opened them in front of him. Today, he was perfectly fine just pretending to study.
"Really? You look a little distracted," Severus pointed out.
Draco looked up at him. "I said I'm fine."
Severus nodded once and looked back down at his book. Draco cursed silently. That remark was supposed to earn him a good fireback from Severus, but instead he got a big fat nothing. This was getting old pretty quickly.
"So what are you doing the rest of the week besides classes?" Draco asked.
Severus shrugged. "Dunno, maybe take up a little reading."
"Oh really, about what?"
Severus shrugged again.
"You were just gonna walk up and down random aisles at the library until you found a book you liked?" said Draco.
Severus managed a small grin. "Well, I was actually thinking of maybe reading Introduction to the Wonders of Apparition...you know, so that I can be ahead when we can start taking lessons."
"Why on earth do you need lessons on apparition when I could just teach you?"
The words had honestly escaped him before he could even grasp what was happening. It was amazing how little control he had over himself. Severus stared at him, not understanding yet probably mirroring his own expression.
"You..." he said, frowning now, "Y-you know apparition?"
"Um," said Draco, not knowing what else to say. "I..."
"When did you learn? Did Dumbledore teach it to you?"
Bingo.
"Yep."
"Well why didn't you say something about it before? That's pretty cool to know."
"He made me promise not to tell anyone so you gotta keep your mouth shut, okay?"
"Yeah, anything you say," said Severus, straightaway. "But I mean I don't get it...how old were you when he taught you?"
"It was just a few months ago," Draco said in all his honesty.
"But isn't it supposed to be super dangerous to learn it when you're young?"
"A few months won't make a big difference, Severus."
The boy nodded importantly and looked down at his books again. Draco sighed. He looked just like a lost puppy who needed to be shaken a few times just so he'd stand up straight and take on the world with some kind of dignity! How the hell was he supposed to fix this child?
And then, it came to him like a light.
"Are you gonna be at the match this weekend?" he asked him.
Severus looked up with a smile on his face. "Of course not, I have better things to do than go watch Quidditch." He paused, his eyes becoming round slightly. "I mean, unless…if you wanted me to go then obviously I would. You'd just have to say the word and I'm there..."
"Relax, I'm not asking you to come for me," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "I'm not even playing this match."
"Oh...I thought you'd taken up a permanent position on your team."
"Nope," said Draco, simply. "Last match it was just a friend helping out another friend in a moment of crisis."
"What was the crisis?"
"A bloke with a broken arm."
Severus smiled again. "Okay so then are you gonna be at the match this weekend?"
"'Course," said Draco. "I wouldn't miss it, and you shouldn't too."
"No thank you," said Severus, looking down at his Potions book and sounding more like his old self.
"Why not?" said Draco.
"Quidditch isn't really my forte, in case you haven't noticed," Severus answered without looking at him.
"Awe come on, you can't be that bad," said Draco.
Severus looked up at him, horrified. "I'm not bad! I don't play at all!"
"Well then why not come watch?"
"Because I don't bloody care about Quidditch!" he finally snapped.
Draco stared at him.
"I...I'm sorry," said Severus, quickly. "I just...look, it's a lot of things, okay? I just... I don't wanna be there this weekend, period."
"Fine," Draco mumbled.
A moment of silence ensued as each boy looked down at his book and pretended to read.
"But let's say you did go," Draco suddenly said, making Severus jump slightly. "Say you went and you knew exactly what was happening in the game and who was playing well and who stunk like Hagrid's Hut does…would you consider going?"
Severus narrowed his eyes at him. "Why?"
Draco smiled.
It took every ounce of persuasion that Draco had but after forty minutes he finally managed to convince Severus to join him out on the Quidditch field that night. And Severus did not disappoint him. He showed up in 'comfortable clothing', as Draco had instructed, with one of the school's brooms strapped to his shoulder and a scowl on his face.
"Why are you making me do this?" he complained, looking miserable as ever.
Draco, on the other hand, was surprised that he hadn't thought to do this before. This right here was the key to fixing all of Severus' problems. If he could just teach him a couple of simple tactics from his time, no one—no one—would ever say anything else about Severus ever again. Draco was sure of it.
"Mount the broom—you do know how to fly, don't you?"
"Yes I know how to fly, I'm not an idiot!" Severus cried, frustrated but mounting his broom.
"Kay good," said Draco, mounting his own. "Alright let's get into the air."
He kicked off the ground and soared straight for the goal posts. Severus must have hesitated slightly before doing the same because it took him a few more seconds to reach Draco.
"You good?" Draco called out to him.
He'd been right to suggest that they do this at night when everyone else was sleeping. And there was no way in hell that Dumbledore could make them go back into the castle. He of all people knew how important it was for Draco to gain Severus as an ally and doing things like this was just part of the journey.
"What do I do now?" Severus called back.
Draco forced himself not to laugh at the weird way that Severus was hovering in the air, like he was afraid of falling.
"Okay, do this," he said instead, now positioning his broom so that he could zigzag through the air several times and turn quickly to head back to his original position in the same way.
"This is so stupid," he heard Severus mutter, but nonetheless, Severus attempted to copy Draco's move. Obviously he looked like Filch's cat high on Amortentia, but it was a good first try.
"Okay, not bad," Draco said, slowly. "But try it like this."
He repeated the move, this time in slower motion so that Severus could really watch him. They continued with this move for about ten more minutes before Draco decided to move on with something a little more complicated but pretty basic.
By the end of the night, Draco was actually pretty pleased with how he'd managed to teach Severus to be a little more comfortable on a broom. He wasn't a pro, true, but he was still managing just fine.
The next day however, things got a little more complicated when Sirius asked, "Hey Draco, where were you last night?"
Draco looked up from his book. "What do you mean?"
"Well I woke up in the middle of the night to take a piss and I noticed your bed was empty. I came down to see if you were maybe in the common room but..."
"But what?" said James.
"I fell asleep on the stairs, okay?" said Sirius.
The boys exploded into laughter, and Draco joined in too. Then, Frank came over to ask James something and soon all was forgotten about Draco's late night absence. It seemed that he was getting luckier and luckier with these things as time passed.
The rest of the week continued in the same way, with Draco attending his classes by day, laughing with the Marauders at meals, and practicing with Severus by night. The only thing the Marauders noticed was Draco being a little more tired than usual, but other than that, they were clueless.
It would've been a perfect week too, if it hadn't been for the tragedy that occurred on Wednesday night. All the Gryffindors in fifth, sixth and seventh year gathered in the common room together to listen a radio broadcast that was coming in live from the Ministry itself. Frank's friends had made sure to clear out all the youngsters from the common room. They didn't need to listen to this.
Once the broadcast came on, Draco wished he hadn't listened. Some ministry official described how bad that night's raid had been and then he began listing the names of all the witches and wizards who'd died in the fight against the Death Eaters. Everyone in the common room sat quietly, either watching each other nervously or just looking at a blank spot somewhere and trying not to think. Mary, Draco noticed, was holding hands with Lily and biting her nail at the same time. Lily was rocking herself back and forth ever so lightly, and a couple of other girls had their mouths covered from the shock of how long this list was. When it came down to the last couple of names, one of the seventh year girls who Draco didn't recognize burst into tears and her friends immediately gathered around her. Draco's eyes instantly fell on James who was exchanging a dark look with Sirius. Remus was looking as gaunt as ever and Peter just flat-out frightened. Then, another boy cursed out loud and walked out of the room. A couple of his buddies exchanged looks and followed him out shortly. Draco took deep breaths but said nothing. What could he say? Never, in a million years, would he ever have imagined that this war was the worse one.
He'd always been so sure that Voldemort had been scarier the second time around...but now he was slowly starting to understand it. Voldemort and his Death Eaters were around for much longer during the first war than they were during the second, therefore they'd no doubt had a greater impact on the rest of the world. He'd been stupid to think otherwise. And now, sitting here and seeing how this was affecting his classmates and their families, made him really nervous inside.
What was Dumbledore's big plan for him—that he'd up and fight the most powerful wizard in the world so that there would never be a second war?
He wasn't the Boy Who Lived...
The next day, all anyone seemed to talk about was what they'd heard last night. But that was just the morning. After lunch, the teachers had managed to assure the students that things would get better soon, and so by dinnertime, everyone was slowly starting to forget about the raid and think about other things instead.
"I'm telling you, this match couldn't come at a better time," James kept repeating all throughout dinner. "The great people of Hogwarts need this match to distract them from all the shit that's happening right now."
"I have a feeling this is gonna be a good one, Jamesy," Sirius said.
Draco looked over at Severus, who was sitting next to Regulus across the hall, apparently deep in conversation, and thought to himself...
...what in god's name was Dumbledore thinking at this very moment?
Gaaawd it feels good to be updating again :) Hope you guys loved the chapter and see you soon!
Also, RIPRickman
Also, next chapter will be the first Gryffindor-Slytherin match of the year! Any predictions?
