In the Malfoy's London apartment, Narcissa came and went, tears pouring down her pale face. She brought with her the news of Lucius Malfoy's death in a cell in Azkaban.
Draco sat with his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Hermione was beside him, not knowing what to say. When he finally managed to pull himself together and look at his wife, his face was glazed with tears.
"I'm… sorry," he gasped, "sorry for breaking down like this."
"He was your father," said Hermione, and was silent. She caressed his sleek blonde hair gently, and Draco pressed his forehead against her palm.
"What a wasted life," he mumbled, "a lifetime of arrogant pride for being a rich pure-blood, and a pitiful death in Azkaban."
"Draco," Hermione said tentatively, "when – when you think about your father… have you ever felt sorry for… for –"
"For putting him in Azkaban?" Draco asked bluntly, "No. He had to pay for what he did. Ensuring that made me feel that at least some small part of my life had not been in vain."
"How can you talk like that," Hermione exclaimed indignantly, "after all you have done?"
"I did what I could," Draco said, tormented, "but is it enough?"
"Less than enough would not have allowed me to marry you," Hermione said very solemnly, pressing his hand.
… When there was a week to go before the next Hogsmeade weekend, James caught sight of Anna standing before the notice board.
"Hogsmeade next week," he remarked.
"Yeah," said Anna, "it'll be nice for a change, don't you think? Are you going, or will you and Ronan be staying behind for some extra Quidditch practice?"
James, afraid to mess up in front of Anna in the upcoming match against Hufflepuff, has been cramming Quidditch practice session whenever his schedule, already overwhelmingly busy with school work, permitted. James was becoming such a good Beater that last time they practiced in a pair, Ronan protested and said he didn't sign up to being hit by Bludgers during eighty percent of his final year at school.
"I think I'll go," said James, "though McKinnon won't be too happy about it, I think he planned to gather me and Ronan and go through some Beater tactics with us."
"Ah, Lennox isn't going, then?" said Anna, trying to sound different and hide her disappointment.
"Nope," said James, twitching his left foot slightly, "so… er – d'you – do you think you'll be up to a drink in The Three Broomsticks sometime around midday?"
"Thanks, James, but I don't think so," Anna shook her head, "I'll be going with Vinny and Gertie, we have hardly seen each other since the beginning of term, with this stup – I mean, the new regulations."
James frowned. He never understood what Anna found in Lavinia Malfoy and Gertrude Nott.
… "And I don't think we really have that much influence on the board of governors, Vinny, they only intend to use us as pawns," Anna told when she, Lavinia and Gertrude walked on to the outskirts of Hogsmeade under pretext of visiting the Shrieking Shack.
"But you don't plan to let them, do you?" Lavinia asked sharply, "You are committed to returning the house of Slytherin back to its rightful position?"
"Yes, yes, of course I am," Anna said hastily, "I'm just telling you this so you know there's not much chance of influencing the board of governors from within. Oh, and Vinny, if you thought your Dad would back you up, you'll be disappointed," and she told Lavinia all about what Mr. Malfoy said during the board's meeting. Lavinia's reaction was not quite what Anna predicted.
"That horrible woman!" she said fiercely, "I'll bet she's poisoning Dad with these ridiculous ideas!"
"I don't think Hermione has anything to do with it," Anna shook her head, but as always, Lavinia would listen to no defense of her father's new wife.
"Now, it's very difficult for us all to get together, with everyone having classes and Quidditch and all sorts of clubs and meetings at different times," she said, "so I'm filling everyone in one by one. Gertie, show Anna what we've done."
Gertrude pulled a very long piece of parchment out of her robes. It was a list of names, most of which were familiar to Anna. She spotted most of the Slytherin surnames, and some names of well-known wizards, like Blaise Zabini, Arthur Thornpyke and Evan Macallister, the Head of International Magical Co-operation.
"We've sent all these people letters," said Lavinia, "pleading our cause. We especially tried to come up with names of people who fondly remember their years in Slytherin. With any luck, the school administration will be soon bombarded with owls from bigwigs supporting Slytherin."
"You do realize that 'school administration' largely means my Dad and my great-uncle Remus, don't you?" asked Anna.
"Yes," said Lavinia, "but if it reaches the Headmaster, it will reach the board of governors. And that is just our first step. Next, we are going to the press. And here is where you come into the picture."
"What do you want me to do?" asked Anna with a feeling of foreboding.
"We need you to give an interview," said Lavinia, "to The Pureblood Visionary."
Anna looked up at Lavinia with horror. The Pureblood Visionary was a radical wizarding newspaper, only distributed in certain circles of the magical society, and she couldn't say she sympathized with all it claimed to convey.
"Why me?" asked Anna, "And why that paper?"
"The Visionary is the only newspaper that has got some backbone," said Lavinia, "not like those Muggle-lovers at the Prophet. And you, of course, are the ideal person to tell about how negatively the reform has affected the students. I mean, you are the Headmaster's daughter, you're Head Girl – if you aren't happy with the new regime, then who is?"
Anna felt deeply uneasy about this. Not only did she realize she would be in deep trouble if her parents found out about this, but she didn't quite agree with most of what was written in The Pureblood Visionary, such as the idea that Muggle-borns ought to be educated separately from people of magical descent. Now that she took her classes with the Gryffindors, Anna saw Muggle-borns cleverer than herself – and even, Anna grudgingly had to admit, Molly Weasley.
"So you'll do it, won't you, Anna?" pressed Lavinia.
Anna suppressed a sigh. The only thing that comforted her was that her parents never read The Pureblood Visionary.
"Alright, then," she said.
"Excellent," Lavinia said briskly, "I'll let you know when I schedule the interview."