Draco and Addie were to begin packing their things promptly after their meeting with the Dark Lord. There was, he instructed them, no time to lose. Every second the insurrection was left unchecked was a serious threat to the Dark Lord's regime. Bellatrix was meant to give Addie a lesson early the next morning, afterward she would take the two teenagers to Diagon Ally to buy their things and to Hogwarts immediately afterward. The world around Draco was moving at a pace so rapid that he felt helpless to stop it. What had he gotten himself into?
Addie remained silent as they trudged up the steps to their individual rooms. Draco noticed that she was fingering her locket anxiously in preparation for what was to be an interesting conversation with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Don't make playing with that locket a habit," Draco hissed. "You'll draw attention to it."
Addie nodded solemnly. In the face of such an unthinkable task, Addie had forgotten her anger with Draco.
"How can they start us now?" She asked as soon as she'd closed her bedroom door. "It's nearly Christmas break! This is silly! We'll be there just over a week before we have to leave again!"
"Tell Him that," Draco muttered, leaning back into a large chintz armchair. "I'm sure he'll appreciate the insight."
"This isn't funny, Draco," Addie snapped. "Do you understand what he wants me to do?"
Draco looked up. Addie's conceited nature had revealed itself once again.
"Do I understand what he wants you to do?" Draco asked casually. "Do I understand? No, Addie. I couldn't possibly understand the position you're in. Asked to murder someone you have no desire to kill. Your life on the line of a mission you didn't ask for. No, Addie, I have no idea."
Addie opened her mouth in protest and then closed it again, "We can't fight. We need to stay together."
"Then maybe you should think a little less about yourself," Draco said.
Addie chose to ignore him and opened the locket.
"Hello?" She called.
It took a moment before the locket vibrated and Hermione's voice called back. She sounded strained.
"Y—Yes Addie?" She called back.
"We have news," Addie said. "You're all going to want to hear this. Are Harry and Ron there?"
"R—Ron?" Hermione asked. Her voice was shaking more than usual. "R—Ron is—"
"Asleep," Harry cut in. "Ron is asleep."
There were mutterings in the background that Draco and Addie could not quite make out.
"We've spoken with Him…again…" Addie said.
"He's with you? He's still there?" Harry asked.
"No," Addie replied. "It was very strange he wasn't here but—but he was—"
"What did he say?" Harry asked.
"We're going back to Hogwarts," Draco said. Addie seemed almost incapable of answering, so Draco decided to take the lead.
"What?" Harry asked. "Why?"
"Apparently your little girlfriend and some of her buddies have started up Dumbledore's Army again," Draco spat. "We're being sent to keep an eye on them."
"Can't Snape do that?" Harry asked.
"The Dark Lord wants someone who can be close to the students. He wants someone to start a counter-revolution," Draco grew tired of having to explain to Harry what, to him, seemed obvious.
"Is that it? You're being sent back to keep an eye on the D.A?" He asked.
"That's not quite it," Draco paused.
"Well?" Harry seemed impatient.
,"The Dark Lord has entrusted Addie with a—a mission of sorts," Draco could not find how best to phrase what he wanted to say.
"Well what does he wa—"
"He wants me to kill Ginny!" Addie shouted.
The other line remained silent.
"W—Well at least its you and not—you know—someone who actually will," Harry said.
"I know but I'm scared!" Addie cried. "How do I get out of doing it?"
"Scared?" Harry asked. "If you were going to get scared you shouldn't have volunteered."
"But I—"
"We have a lot to do. We'll contact you when you can. Otherwise, let us know when you have anymore to tell us."
"Wait!"
There was a faint click and the line of communication went dead. Addie held the locket in her hands and let out a dry sob.
"You'll be alright," Draco assured her. "I don't think he'll want you to kill Ginny for a long time."
"What makes you say that?" Addie looked at him, her eyes were glistening.
"He'll want to keep her as bait," Draco said flatly. "He's done it before. I suspect the Dark Lord will want to lure Harry back to Hogwarts for—you know—the end."
"What makes you think that?" Addie asked.
"The way he talks about Hogwarts. He's expressed, in his own way, a desire to finish Harry there."
"But he's tried to kill Harry so many times in—in so many places!" She exclaimed.
"Yes," Draco paused, "But I think that's because he's grown desperate to be rid of him. Besides, he doesn't pick just anywhere. Think of the places he's brought Harry. The graveyard that holds his father's grave. The Department of Mysteries, which held the secret to his downfall. He's one for dramatics, the Dark Lord. I believe that ideally, He wants to kill Harry at Hogwarts. In which case, we'll have to reveal ourselves as spies by then and you won't be required to kill Ginny."
"How do you know that's true?" She asked.
"I just know," Draco felt extremely sure of himself. He knew the Dark Lord better than he would have liked.
"It's snowing," Addie said quietly.
Draco looked up to see the faint image of white flakes dancing outside Addie's window; taunting them with the memory of the world they'd left behind, a world where children were excited to come home for the holidays and parents were busily buying gifts, a world they may never see again.
The next morning Draco woke early in order to listen to the faint sound of footsteps outside his bedroom, alerting him the Addie had gone down for her lesson with Bellatrix. He hoped she'd perform as admirably as she had the day before, even with the Dark Lord's request on her mind. It would be hours before he knew if she was alright.
To his relief, she was, and Bellatrix left the lesson more than satisfied with Addie's progress.
"You will be my protégé," Bellatrix said as the trio prepared to leave for Diagon Ally. "I will teach you what I never had to opportunity to teach."
"Thank you Mrs. Lestrange," Addie replied. "I am eager to learn."
Bellatrix smiled as she grabbed Draco and Addie by the arms in preparation for side along apparition. Without any warning Draco felt the familiar sensation of a pull around his navel and the two were transported to Diagon Ally. It was not, however, the Diagon Ally they had once known. Many of the familiar stores had been boarded up and shops dedicated to the Dark Arts had sprung up in their place. Beggars lined the side of the roads asking for gold.
"Who are they?" Addie asked with what Draco felt was a bit too much tenderness in her voice.
Bellatrix, however, did not notice, "Wandless," She spat. "Mudbloods and filth."
A woman holding a small child in her arms reached out to Addie as the three passed her on their way to Madam Malkin's.
"Please miss, I'm a witch, let me show you!"
Addie looked horrified, but Bellatrix cut in before she had a chance to speak.
"FILTH!" She bellowed. "You dare to touch a girl whose blood is as pure as hers? You dare suggest that you hold the same power as she? Descendent of the Blacks? How dare you! Addie, take this time to use the spell I taught you today."
Addie's eyes grew wide.
"Show her, Addie," Bellatrix commanded. "Are you a witch or aren't you?"
Addie pulled out her wand and took a deep breath, "Quimado!" she shouted.
Instantly, the woman's skin became covered in blistering red burns. She cried out and nearly dropped the child she held in her arms. Addie watched horrified as the beggar woman ran from them into the nearest shop, crying out for water or relief from her pain.
Bellatrix smiled, "Nicely done. A bit different when you're not practicing on cats, eh?"
Addie gulped, "Very different."
Addie remained relatively silent for the rest of the day. "A good quality in a pupil," Bellatrix had commented. Bellatrix led the teenagers through Diagon Alley pointing out the new stores with 'proper aims' and purchasing their school things. Draco noticed that the excitement that usually accompanied buying his new school robes or books had vanished. The bustling friendliness of Diagon Alley had disappeared, and with it, its appeal.
Draco also noticed, with disgust, that the shopkeepers and people around Diagon Alley also treated them with a sort of frightened respect. Draco needn't ask for assistance and whatever Bellatrix said was law. Addie was doted upon accordingly, and this part of her new life, it seemed, she had taken a liking to. Addie delighted in making very specific requests of Madam Malkin as to make her school robes look just right.
"The girl knows her strengths," Bellatrix mused as Addie requested the fabric around her waist be tied just a bit tighter.
"We don't usually fit them this way," Madam Malkin said.
"Well I don't usually come in here," Addie snapped.
It was strange how much she sounded like Bellatrix. Draco felt, with a certain foreboding that Addie was learning to play her part far too well.
"You will be arriving at the school by floo powder into the headmaster's chambers," Draco's aunt told them once they'd arrived back at Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix spat out the word 'headmaster' as if it were a disgusting swear.
It was widely acknowledged among Death Eaters that Bellatrix hated Snape above all others. He seemed to have garnered more admiration from the Dark Lord than she, a fact that Draco's aunt could not bear.
"I don't understand," Addie said suddenly. "Why are we going this soon before Christmas break? It seems silly."
Draco winced in preparation for what was to come.
"I don't understand," His aunt mimicked her. "If you don't want to carry out the Dark Lord's orders you can tell him that yourself. You need to learn your place in things and your place is not to question. Don't let me catch you doing it again."
"Yes Miss Lestrange," Addie said quickly.
Bellatrix turned round to look at the large grandfather clock that stood in the corner of the sitting room.
"Snape is expecting you," She said with the same contempt as before. "Draco, you go first. If something goes wrong, we can't lose the girl."
Draco stepped forward. He was used to jibes from his aunt.
He took a handful of the floo powder that the Malfoy's kept atop their fireplace and threw it into the flames.
"Hogwarts, headmaster's office," Draco said as he stepped into the fire.
The room spun out of focus and he could feel himself flying high above Malfoy Manor. He remembered with a slight sting that he had forgotten to say goodbye to his scarcely seen father. Where had he been these past few days? Draco began to wonder just as he felt his feet hit the floor and he tumbled into Snape's office.
As he entered he could have sworn he'd heard Snape speaking in low voices with someone else in the room, but as he looked up he saw that Snape was alone aside from assorted portraits of Hogwarts headmasters who had passed on, one of which, Draco saw, was Albus Dumbledore.
Draco lingered too long on the floor in front of the fireplace and soon felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as Addie came tumbling out behind him, falling on top of him.
"Grace was never your strong point, Miss White," Snape's silky voice said from across the room.
The two stood up and brushed themselves off.
"Your bags have been brought to the Slytherin common room," Snape informed them.
"But I'm a—" Addie protested.
"You are what the Dark Lord says you are. Surely you don't want to be in Gryffindor?" Snape raised an eyebrow.
"No I just thought I could keep a better eye on the wrongdoers if I remained in Gryffindor," Addie lied with ease.
"It's safer for you to reside in the Slytherin common room. You will have plenty of time to complete your task. Now off to bed with the both of you. I hardly have time to stay and chat."
"Professor?" Draco piped up.
"Yes?" Snape sounded agitated.
"The password," Draco reminded him.
"Oh, yes, that…The password is mudblood," Snape informed them.
Addie looked sick.
"Goodnight, Mr. Malfoy," He gave Draco a small bow, "Miss White."
The two returned the gesture and hurried out of his office. Draco was shocked at how unchanged Hogwarts had been as his life turned upside down. In contrast, though, he could feel something in the air around the school. The sense of security that had accompanied Hogwarts had gone with Dumbledore, and Draco could tell that nothing had replaced it but fear.
"It's so strange being back," Addie whispered as Draco led the two to the common room.
"Yes," Draco replied solemnly, "very strange indeed."
They stopped in front of what must have seemed to Addie to be a bare wall, and Draco turned to her.
"This is the entrance," He said.
"Oh…" Addie looked around. She hadn't thought to pay attention to their surroundings and doubted she could find it again.
"I'll help you find it for the next few days," Draco assured her.
She smiled, and his heart skipped a beat.
"Mudblood," He said loudly, in order to distract himself from Addie's beauty.
The wall opened to reveal a small hole through which Draco and Addie were to climb in order to enter the Slytherin common room. He suspected that the Slytherins were all gathered around the fire in the black leather chairs that surrounded it. He wondered if they knew he was coming.
His question was answered almost immediately as he was knocked over by a round blur about a head smaller than he was with jet black hair and a nasal voice.
"Draaaaaaaaaco!"
"Hello, Pansy," He said as he wrenched himself from her embrace.
"I knew you'd come back! I told everyone that you would come back!" She looked around for approval.
The surly looking Slytherins all nodded and continued to watch Draco and Addie with a mixture of contempt and interest. They watched Addie particularly closely.
"And you," Pansy spat, "I heard you would be here."
"I am here," Addie began, "on orders from the Dark Lord himself. If you disapprove, take it up with him."
Addie had learned to command the same amount of respect and fear that followed his aunt when she entered the room.
"Things have changed here," A voice from the corner of the room said. Draco and Addie turned to see the sharp profile of Blaise Zabini illuminated as he turned in the large leather armchair in which he sat. He rose, slowly, with the sort of grace that had always accompanied him. He took long, casual strides as he made his way toward Draco and Addie.
"Miss White," He bent down and kissed her hand. "Unlike some people in this room, I have been informed of the valuable services you offer our cause. It is good to have one whose blood is as pure as yours come over to the side where she belongs."
He turned his dark eyes upward, feasting on Addie's beauty, and then turned himself back to Draco. He remained cordial, but there was something in his tone that revealed a cold competitiveness. Draco suspected that Blaise's parents had spoken to him about more than just the services Addie offered, but also of the marriage the Dark Lord intended for her. Blaise would, of course, be a likely candidate.
"My old friend," He stuck out his hand. "It is good to see that you are well."
The two boys locked eyes, neither daring to let go of the others hand.
"You will find, Blaise, that I am extremely resilient." Draco said darkly.
Blaise let go of Draco's hand and turned to go back to his seat by the fire, "You must be, after all that the Malfoy family has gone through."
Draco stiffened. This subtle attack on his family made anger rise in Draco. Though he had switched sides, it was difficult for Draco to remove from himself the desire for power. He had long valued his family's status above all else.
"What has changed?" Addie asked. Her voice remained cold. The echo of Bellatrix was obvious.
"Classes, mainly," Blaise said from his seat. "The Carrows have instituted a very different regime here."
"And Snape?" She asked. "He is Headmaster, is he not?"
"We see very little of Snape," Blaise mused. "He's far too busy dealing with Dumbledore's Army to be directly involved in education."
Addie nodded.
"That is, I hear, why you have returned," Blaise said.
"Your parents' tongues are very loose, Zabini," Addie spat. "Draco and I are here on orders from the Dark Lord. There will be no further questioning on the matter."
A shadow of fear fell over Blaise's distinct features, "I am sorry, Miss White. I did not mean to pry."
"Very well," Addie nodded. "Tell us more of these changes."
"Well McGonagall, Flitwick, and Slughorn are all still here," Zabini spat. "But the Carrows have taken over the most important aspects of our education."
"Such as?" Draco asked.
"Amycus has taken over teaching us the Dark Arts, while Alecto heads muggle studies," Blaise sounded bored.
"The Dark Arts?" Draco asked.
"Yes," Blaise smiled. "It is strictly Dark Arts now."
"But why muggle studies?" Addie asked.
"We are all required to take muggle studies in order to get a better perspective on the sort of filth that infests our world. Alecto takes great pains to explain to us the shortcomings of muggles and mudbloods alike."
Addie nodded, but her expression seemed strained. Clearly the changes of which Blaise spoke did not sit well with Addie's better nature.
"My things, I am sure, have been taken care of?" She asked.
The inhabitants of the common room looked around at each other until Pansy finally spoke, "They're in our dormitory, yes."
"Excellent," Addie smiled. "Well, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you all to leave so that Draco and I may engage in private conversation."
Murmurs could be heard across the common room. Many of the younger students, frightened of the new arrivals, quickly obeyed Addie's orders. Draco was shocked at her confidence.
"You can't just make us leave!" Pansy shrieked. "Who do you think you are?"
"I am Addie White, liaison of the Dark Lord himself and ward of Mrs. Bellatrix Lestrange. Draco and I have been sent here on specific orders whose nature is none of your concern. If you would like to send word to Mrs. Lestrange and tell her that your petty gossip was more important than the Dark Lord's take over of Hogwarts you may do so, but I feel it would be ill-advised."
Addie's words were cutting, and without any further questioning the remaining Slytherins left the room. Addie flicked her wand and whispered, "Muffiliato,"
"So we won't be overheard," She smiled, pulling the locket out from underneath her robes.
"Clearly," Draco began, "you are not in the business of making any friends here."
"Should I be?" She looked horrified. "Why would I want that Parkinson cow or that awful Blaise Zabini to be my friends?"
"Because," Draco sighed, "Why alienate those who can help us?"
"How can they help us?" Addie laughed.
"Eyes and ears," Draco said. "We're going to have to at least pretend to hand the Dark Lord valuable information."
Addie nodded.
"What has my aunt been teaching you?" The question came quickly out of Draco's mouth, before he had the chance to stop it.
Addie raised her eyebrows, "Spells and things. Why?"
"You act like her," He said quietly.
"I'm supposed to," She laughed. "I can't really be myself, can I?"
"No, I suppose not," Draco said, though Addie's answer did not relieve the feeling of uneasiness that had rested in the pit of his stomach.
"Let's call Harry," She said quickly, opening the locket.
"Harry?" She whispered.
There was the traditional silence before the locket began to vibrate and Harry Potter's shaky voice rang clear.
"Are you in alright?" He asked.
"Yes, and keep your voice down!" She said.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Hogwarts is under Death Eater control," Addie whispered quickly.
There were whispers from the other end that sounded as though Harry and Hermione were planning.
"We knew that already," Harry said sternly. "Do you have anything else for us? How is Ginny?"
Addie's face became hard, and her voice took on the tone that she used when she spoke with her Slytherin classmates, "Ginny is, as far as we know, fine."
"Good," Harry said. "Anything else?"
"The Carrows have taken over education here. Snape seems to be too busy to deal with classes, so the Carrows have taken over in that respect." Addie had become noticeably icy.
"Is that all you have?" He asked.
"I'm sorry, I was under the impression you cared if we arrived safely. Silly me. Goodnight Harry!" Addie slammed the locket shut and let out a frustrated grunt.
"What an ungrateful little—here we are risking our lives!"
"We volunteered," Draco said quietly. "We asked for this."
Addie looked up at him with her eyes full of fury, "I don't need this from you!" She hissed and stormed up to the girls' dormitory, leaving Draco alone by the fire.
Draco stalked up the familiar stairs to where he knew his old friends would be waiting for him; eager to hear his tale. He pushed the large stone door open slowly and looked around the room. Just as he had suspected Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise had all stayed up to wait for Draco's return. There was an awkward pause punctuated by the loud snores of the other Slytherins that inhabited the room.
"It is good to see you again," Draco said quietly, laying his things down on his usual bed.
"We did not expect this," Zabini responded.
Draco sat down on his bed and pulled his socks off slowly in preparation for a long awaited sleep.
"Nor did I," Draco said.
"Things have changed," Crabbe's distinct grunt came from one end of the room.
"I can see that," Draco snapped. He was used to taking this tone with Crabbe
"I'm good at things now," Crabbe smiled. "The Carrows have taught me lots of new stuff."
"Glad to hear it," Draco drawled as he pulled his nightshirt on.
"People respect us now, Goyle and me," Crabbe said, a bit louder.
"How nice that must be for you," Draco laughed as he lay down on the comfortable four poster.
Draco yawned. He could not bring himself to be interested in Crabbe's speech. Indeed, some things about Draco had not changed at all. His sense of superiority over Crabbe and Goyle had hardly waned over the past six months. He flicked his wand casually allowing the lights to turn themselves out.
"He's right you know," Zabini's voice rang clear through the dark room. "The social order has changed, Draco, you would do well to find your place in it,"
Perplexed, Draco ignored his impulse to scoff and asked, "How do you mean?"
"I think," Came Zabini's slow whisper, "its best if you find out for yourself."
Draco heard the rustling of bed sheets and knew that Zabini had no intention of continuing the conversation. He wondered if Addie was having the same strange welcome in the girls' dormitory and longed to speak with her. The idea dawned on him that he was going to have to share her company with others now that they had returned to Hogwarts; an idea that did not sit well with him.
The next morning Draco rose early and made his way down to the common room where he hoped Addie would be waiting for him. Sure enough, he saw her sitting alone in front of the slowly crackling fire, fingering the locket around her neck.
"What did I tell you about that?" He said sternly.
Addie jolted.
"Didn't mean to scare you," He smirked.
"We start classes today," She said quietly.
"Indeed we do," Draco sat down in the armchair next to her. Her gaze remained intent on the fire.
"I'm going to have to see them," She said.
"Who?" Draco asked, though he knew the answer.
"The Gryffindors. They'll all know what I've done, or think they know at any rate. All of my old friends…they're going to hate me," Her voice quivered over the word 'hate'. Draco realized that for all of Addie's life she had never been hated before. The prospect must have been terrifying.
"For now," He said, "but they will eventually know what you've done. They will understand the risk you've taken, and then they will not only love you, but admire you."
Addie turned from the fire to look Draco straight in the face. Her brown eyes were glistening with tears and Draco could see his own reflection in her gaze. He wanted to call out to her. He wanted to tell her that she didn't need their love because she had all of his, but instead she remained silent.
"I'm glad you woke up this early," He said finally.
"Bellatrix asked me to," She replied. "She wants to give me lessons every day until holiday. She thinks I'm 'depressingly under-trained'." Addie imitated Bellatrix's deep voice.
Slowly, the Slytherins began to gather around the fireplace and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Draco could feel Addie tense up next to him as the large oak doors came into view, but he doubted that anyone around them would notice. Addie was frighteningly good at imitating Bellatrix.
As they entered he saw Addie's gaze shoot over toward the Gryffindor table. Sure enough, there sat Ginny, Neville, and Seamus Finnegan. They all leaned in close as Addie and Draco entered; Draco felt as though he could hear their malicious whispers. They would know soon enough, however, they would know in the end that Draco Malfoy more than paid his debt.
"I can't believe she showed her face," Ginny was whispering across the table as she watched Addie take a seat next to Draco and Blaise. "Its taking all my strength not to run over there and kill her with my bare hands."
"Keep your temper, Ginny," Neville warned. "It won't do any good to attack her here, not with them watching." Neville nodded in the direction of Snape and the Carrows, all three of whom were watching over the dining students.
Ginny sighed, "I know."
"We'll get them in the end," Seamus said darkly. "The Malfoy boy and that double-crossing harlot, in the end, they'll pay for what they've done."
The three Gryffindors ate their lunch in relative silence, while the Slytherin table conducted its own conversations in its usual dark whispers.
"So, Addie," Pansy Parkinson began, unable to mask her snide voice, "what made you switch teams?"
Addie raised an eyebrow, "Though it really is no business of yours, Parkinson, I decided that Potter and his gang couldn't offer me what the Dark Lord could."
"And what's that?" Zabini asked.
"Power," She said lustfully. "Why else are we here?"
Zabini's eyes flickerd admiringly, "You truly are extraordinary,"
"We should go," Draco said quickly. "Classes start soon."
Addie nodded and pulled out the schedules that had been delivered that had been delivered to Draco and herself that morning.
"Dark Arts with the Gryffindors first, then," She said darkly.
"I do well in that class now," Crabbe smiled.
"How lovely for you," Addie replied.
"Now that they've gotten rid of all that defense stuff," Crabbe continued. "I'm real good."
Addie rolled her eyes and took Draco by the hand.
Amycus Carrow was, Draco soon found out, one of the most revolting men he had ever had the displeasure of meeting. His dark fingernails dragged along the desks as he paced in front of the classroom explaining the proper execution of Unforgivable curses and offensive hexes without a hint of eloquence. Draco despised Death Eaters like him most of all. They lacked, what Draco liked to call, the Malfoy grandeur. He was simply a low life pandering for power. This was far more detestable than a pure-blood family hoping to remain so. At least he liked to think so.
The teacher did not veil his affinity for Addie and used her as his constant example and volunteer. She was resilient, but Draco could see the fear in her eyes. She served as his pin cushion for the entire class, a demonstrative tool.
A very beautiful demonstrative tool.
"Now," Amycus said in the last quarter of the class, "I will divide you into twos and you will practice what I just taught."
Amycus went down the list he created, and Draco could not help but notice that this 'lesson' was merely an opportunity for Slytherin students to attack the Gryffindors.
"Zabini and Finnegan, Malfoy and Longbottom, White and—White and Weasley," He sneered as he finished of the list, "I will call you up individually to watch you perform the blood-sucker hex."
"At least you were man enough to come back here," He spat.
"Longottom, I don't feel the need to explain myself to you. Just know that not all is what it seems," Draco sighed.
In earlier days, Draco's remark would have been met with the puzzled vacant stare of the Neville of the past, on this day, however, Neville remained resilient.
"I don't care what you have to say for yourself. You'll pay for what you've done," Neville said.
"Longbottom!" Amycus' harsh voice came from the other side of the room. "Longbottom quit the chit-chat and do the spell!"
"I don't do spells like this, sir," He replied.
Draco was shocked at his unabashed hatred.
"What do you mean?" Amycus asked.
"I don't perform spells like this. They're for Death Eaters and cowards." On the world 'coward' Neville caught Draco's eye.
"Malfoy!" Amycus spat. "Show the Longbottom boy how it feels to be attacked."
Draco held his wand aloft and half-heartedly recited the spell. He knew he had to perform in order keep up his charade, but he could perform the spell in such a way that it would cause Neville minimal damage.
"Leaccio," He said softly, sloppily waving his wand.
A few red patches appeared on the backs of Neville's arms, but other than that he was unscathed. The familiar face of the puzzled Neville Longbottom reappeared as he examined the minimal effects of Draco's hex.
"Dismal at best," Amycus drawled, "but it is Lucius Malfoy's son. What should I expect? Next we will have—"
The bell cut Amycus off just before he could announce the next name and the students shuffled out of the classroom.
As Draco and Addie rounded the corner, an angry female voice followed them.
"You're pathetic you know!" Ginny Weasley shouted.
"Pathetic?" Addie slipped into her Bellatrix voice with ease now.
"Just because he doesn't love you! Just because you don't get everything! You'll help You-Know-Who kill him! You're pathetic!" Ginny was livid.
"Shut your mouth!" Addie cried, pulling out her wand.
"No!" Ginny shouted. "And to think I let scum like you stay in my house!"
"Scum?" Addie cried. "I come from the house of Black you filthy blood-traitor! Learn some respect!"
It happened quickly. Ginny pulled out her wand, but lessons with Draco's aunt had made Addie quicker than before. With a crack she slashed her wand through the air, conducting her spell in silent. Ginny fell onto the marble floor and pulled her legs up to her chest. Silent tears poured down her face as she tried not to let anyone know what was wrong, but the Cruciatus curse was unmistakable. Draco turned to Addie and saw blind hatred in her eyes. He had seen that look before, and he now knew that Addie no longer had to pretend to be Bellatrix. She had become Bellatrix.