It had been nearly two hours since he'd seen something impossible. He stood up from his surprisingly comfortable place on the floor and walked over to the fireplace, then turned and shuffled to the couch. Repeating this process cleared his head.
Was his headmaster really on the dark side?
He shook his head. The answer was obvious.
Why did Draco Malfoy want to be resorted, and did Lucius truly have his son's entire life planned out?
Well, knowing the Malfoys, Lucius probably had it all set up. Harry wondered briefly if this meant Draco was to have an arranged marriage, then asked himself why he cared. That question stopped him in his tracks.
Why did he care?
Grumbling to himself, he resumed his pacing.
Could he still trust in Dumbledore?
Should he tell someone?
He quickly shook his head, answering both inquiries.
The next questions that came to his mind were: Who was Jamie, and how had his father sent him a letter, when James had been dead for almost sixteen years?
Those were questions he just didn't have the answers to.
But he was determined to find out.
"Lemon drops," was all the old man said.
Before Jamie could say "what?", a door slid open and presented them with a beautiful spiral staircase.
Dumbledore simply smiled and led her up the stairs and into his office.
He sat down behind his desk and motioned for Jamie to sit in a comfortable-looking chair. She sat, and waited for him to speak.
His deep, thoughtful voice reached her ears a moment later. He said, "So, Ms. Potter - or shall I call you Jamie?"
She smiled slowly, and replied, "For now, you may call me Ms. Robbins."
He nodded politely and started again. "Alright, Ms. Robbins. I understand that you've decided to come to our school to study. What I would like to know, is why?"
She took a moment to consider this. How exactly did she tell this man that she was here to stop Harry Potter from being murdered, thus saving the wizarding world?
She sighed softly. Unable to think of a good way to phrase it, she did something that had always come easy to her. She lied.
"I'm here because my adoptive mother was murdered. She had been teaching me the things that you teach your students here. We were actually in the middle of a Herbology lesson when she.. When it happened."
She paused for a moment, and shook her head. "Unfortunately, this means I am not finished with my studies. As I'd received no offers from other schools, Hogwarts seemed to be my last option."
She tried to ignore the twinkling in the headmaster's eyes and the sinking feeling in her stomach as he handed her a crumpled black hat.
"Well then, Ms. Robbins, I'm going to need you to put this on."
He sat there, slumped on the sofa, as he listened to the screams. They were unholy screams. Terrifying screams.
His mother's screams.
He wouldn't sleep tonight.
Probably never would again.
Just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, silence filled his pounding head. Then there was a quiet, "Crucio," before the shrieks began again.
He stood and left the parlor. When he reached his room, he shut his door as quietly as he could, then sunk down to the floor. The first burning tears were like molten lava on his pale skin.
Draco Malfoy was crying.
Malfoys weren't supposed to cry.
His father's scolding voice rang out clear in his head. Stop that useless display of emotion, Draco. You'll never be good enough to be a Malfoy.
He'd heard those words so many times in his short life, it was like they were burned into is brain. Although, his father could have probably arranged that..
He knew he was a disgrace to his father. He had known since third year, when they had had that awful conversation. Draco had let it slip that he had a crush on someone at school, and his father wanted to know who the object of his son's affection was.
"She has to be good enough for a Malfoy."
Draco shuddered at the memory of Lucius's face scrunching up as if he'd gotten a whiff of something foul. He had been utterly disgusted at Draco's mumbled reply.
"Father, it isn't exactly a she.."
A/N: Harry's confused, Jamie is worried, and Draco is..Gay? Well, we all knew that.
I just wanted to say a quick thank-you to Readr16, for giving me my first review. I really really appreciate it, and I hope all your questions will be answered in the next couple of chapters.
As always, Reviews = Love :3