Chapter 30

Chaos…the one word to describe what was happening at the Malfoy Manor. From the Death Eaters inside running around, unknowing who to take orders from, Malfoy trying to take control and follow Voldemort's path, the scared group of Hogwarts students trying to figure out what to do now that Emily was a large, unconscious wolf lying at their feet with a mean and pained expression on its face, and the hungry werewolf that was Remus Lupin snarling at any person who tried to come near him and snapping at anyone on the Malfoy grounds he could reach. The Order had found their way out and was trying to capture Lupin so they could get him under control. Yes, the best word to describe the anger and confusion at that time was chaos…complete and total chaos.

"We must find Potter and kill him before this gets out! We can still reign as Death Eaters, purifying the Wizard race without the Dark Lord. But this cannot get out! Find him kill him!" snarled Lucius Malfoy.

The Death Eaters in the manor were running around trying to find their prisoners and check if Voldemort's wards had gone done now that he was dead. In the confusion of all the orders, nobody heard was Lucius was saying. That is, everybody except Draco Malfoy didn't hear him. Draco was standing quietly in the corner, completely ignored. He was shocked, yes; now that Voldemort couldn't threaten to kill his family he was free, truly free; but now that Lucius Malfoy was in control, there would be no rest for Malfoy. He would be expected to be one of the most prominent Death Eaters, and he would be told to kill people without having a say. Even with Voldemort gone, Draco would still be under a lot of pressure. However, now there was nothing anyone could use against him. His father couldn't threaten to kill anyone Draco loved, like Voldemort had used Narcissa and Lucius, for now Draco loved no one and nothing. There was no school for Draco to be kicked out of, nor any friends who wouldn't talk to him if he deserted the dark side. Crabbe and Goyle had been nothing more than tools; they were too stupid to be friends. Pansy Parkinson's praise he would miss a little bit, but Pansy had only wanted to be his husband because he was rich and his family was in the Dark Lords inner circle. She would only use him now, and he didn't need that.

Draco knew what he had to do, but it was more dangerous even than going up to Lucius Malfoy and spitting in his face. He had to secretly desert, and help the people who never in a million years would accept him. But he couldn't do it alone. Who else could he get to desert? It hit him so hard that he was amazed he hadn't thought of it before.

"Wormtail," Draco hissed and he pulled the murder of Lily and James Potter out of the crowd of wizards rushing through the halls.

"Draco? I really have to go check the wards and fix them. Please let me go before your father finds out I'm slacking. I-" Pettigrew squeaked with fear as Draco shook his head with a determined glint in his eye.

"It doesn't matter about the wards anymore. Wormtail, I know you. You like to feel safe. You like to be surrounded by the leading source of power. Face it, Pettigrew. The dark Lord's gone for good and the Death Eaters now will beer succeed." Draco lied the best he could, forcing his force to sound sure and strong. "The good side will have the most power. We need to desert. My father won't notice. You won't be in his inner circle, like you were the Dark Lords. You'll be thrown aside like a used rag. Come with me and you'll have another chance at life."

"Is…is this a test or something? I…" Pettigrew squeaked.

Draco replied simply, "No. Follow me if you dare. If not, I'll have to knock you out."

Pettigrew shivered and followed the youngest Malfoy through lesser used halls and down the back stairs to the party garden in the back of the house, filled with dangerous plants and magical vegetation that even Professor Sprout wouldn't have been able to identify or grow."

"I'm sure they're here somewhere," Draco muttered.

"Who?" asked Pettigrew surprised. He had thought they were leaving, not helping somebody here.

"Anybody. The Order of the Phoenix, Potter and Co., the werewolf…someone from the good side. I'm going to help them so they can overthrow my father."

Pettigrew gasped but was pulled along before he had the chance to comment. Sneakily, Draco snuck around the house until a stranger group of people was finally in view.

"Who…?" Pettigrew began to ask, but Draco shot him a look that clearly told him to keep his mouth shut.

Draco scampered across the yard with Pettigrew close behind. He snuck up behind Genny, and Seamus, hidden by the bushes so that Harry, Hermione, Ron, Seamus, and Ryan couldn't see him…yet.

"She's a werewolf!" Hermione was crying. "We couldn't stop him." Ron absentmindedly patted her on the back, but he was obviously unaware of what he was doing.

Draco smirked. He had always known those two geeks would end up together.

"We need to get her to Hogwarts," Harry commanded. Nobody moved. "Ummm…guys? Somebody needs to. We can't leave her here to be alone when she turns back into a human!"

Genny turned indignantly to him. "And how do you suggest we carry a two hundred pound werewolf, genius? Even with magic, who'd want to? You do it if you're so brave."

Harry, looking weary after his consuming battle with Voldemort opened his mouth to reply, but before he could reply Jon said, "We have to work together. Everyone calm down. We're just scared and worried. We need to relax."

"I'm not scared," snapped Genny.

"Yeah, she's just cranky. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Ryan snickered to Seamus.

Genny turned on him and growled, "Got a problem with that, freak!"

"Now, Genny. Forget it. Sorry I said it. I didn't mean it like that. We're scared for Emily and worried if Death Eaters will be coming to catch us," Jon tried to reassure her, quickly.

Now was his chance. Draco stepped from behind the bushes saying confidently, "Oh, don't worry. The Death Eaters are too busy fixing Voldemort's security wards to look for you." His drawling tone made everyone jump. Everyone (except Emily of course who was lying on the ground unconscious) snapped out their wands at pointed them at Malfoy…but nobody did any magic.

Malfoy nodded at Emily. "Normally I'd say 'Why bother with her; she's a dangerous monster however unconscious she is,' but if I guess if we're going to be working on your side from now on I should try not to say things like that, hmm?"

"Our side?" gasped Hermione, with a look of hatred on her face. "You almost killed Dumbledore! You cursed us and teased us and sold us out to Umbridge, and now you expect us to believe you'd just switch sides? How stupid do you think we are, Malfoy?"

"Well, judging by your grades I think you're the least stupid witch in the entire school," Draco shrugged. Hermione froze, with a look of astonishment on her face. Draco continued, "As for killing Dumbledore, I couldn't. I was too...afraid, I guess, even though it shames me to admit it. The only reason I ever did any of those things- try to kill Dumbledore, threaten you a few months ago- was because the Dark Lord was threatening to kill my family if I didn't. Now he's gone and my father's in control and…well…he can't really threaten to kill himself," Draco finished lamely.

Ron looked to Harry to see what he thought. Harry shook his head.

"Look, I'm serious! I give up on being one of the bad guys! It's just how I was raised. I can't help that. Potter…er, Harry… you were raised to not know about magic. Ron, you were raised to be a mug…good person who doesn't care how wizarding background. I was raised to be a pureblood git. I'm sorry. Besides, I brought more help." Draco yanked the cloak that was sitting out from the bushes, making Pettigrew stumble out to his feet, looking around at the group squeaking in fear.

"Hel…hello, Harry. Ron." He muttered nodding at them.

Ron looked disgusted. This horrible man had lived in Ron's pocket for years as his pet and he had never even known. This man had shared Ron's room…which was pretty perverted and nasty now that Ron thought back on it…but anyway…!

"Emily would kill you if she saw you," warned Genny. "You're the one who freaked her out when she was living in that muggle town, weren't you? You must've been, I can't imagine there are many people in the world that Emily could call a rat-man, but you're one of the special ones, aren't you? Whoopee for you!" Genny was so sarcastic that Pettigrew was whimpering in fear from her.

"You don't understand what it was like working under the Dark Lord-"

"Yeah, you had to betray my parents, yadda, yadda, yadda. Already heard it! What do you want, Wormtail?" Harry accused, crossing his arms.

"Well, I guess…I'm here with Draco."

"You need a better reason than that for us to trust you," pointed out Seamus who was beginning to understand who Pettigrew was.

"Draco pointed out…to me…that the…the Dark Lord's side's not as strong as it used to be…and I'd be useless to Lucius Malfoy…I'd probably be killed…and I...I…" at this, looking frantic, Pettigrew threw himself at Harry's feet and began sobbing, "You saved my life three years ago. Please save it again now. I'll help you! I'll tell you everything I know. Please have mercy! I promise I'll help you."

Harry looked up with a look of disgust on his face, then he gently kicked Pettigrew away from his feet and helped him to stand up. Even standing, Pettigrew was much shorter than Harry. That's what he got for being a rat for so long.

Harry looked him in the eye, "You promise you'll be on our side."

Pettigrew nodded despairingly.

"And you won't betray us no matter what."

"I…I promise," gasped Pettigrew. "I promise on…on your father. And on you! You saved my life so I'll try to save yours."

"Sure you will," grunted Ron. "But only if you get to keep your own life in the bargain."

Ignoring this comment, everyone introduced themselves to Pettigrew, and Jon and Ryan introduced themselves to Malfoy.

"Another Granger then?" Draco asked when Jon introduced himself. "And I felt clueless enough with one around." But he was grinning and everyone knew he was joking. As much as they had detested Malfoy before, now they were trying to accept him for who he was.

Jon grinned back. "Yep. That's us Grangers. Smarter than the average geek."

When Hermione huffed crossly, Jon shrugged at her and she rolled her eyes.

Ryan glanced at the forgotten Emily. "Ummm, guys. What are we gonna do now? We have a werewolf to take care of, a couple of traitors, a bunch of i students /i , and who knows how many Death Eaters running around. Not to mention a 'conscious' werewolf somewhere who could easily tear us limb from limb."

"Gees, Ryan. Thanks for the great mental picture," winced Genny.

"Well for starters," smirked Draco. "As soon as the sun comes up and… Lupin was it? Like the teacher? Good god, that's insane… changes back, we can overtake the manor and find the central meeting room. All the Death Eaters will meet there in a few hours, and if we're lucky, I know a perfect way to steal all there wands, making them powerless until they get new ones," he said with a malicious smile on his face.

While Draco began to explain his plan, Genny looked up at him with great admiration. She bit her lip and looked back to the group, but her smile never left. Draco also looked up at Genny oddly a few times. This strong-willed daughter of Death-Eaters could stand against the Dark Lord, and so could he. He remembered helping her when she had gotten her Dark Mark. The feeling of helping someone other than himself had haunted him ever since...but in a good way.