Chapter Four

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November 28, 1986- Malfoy Manor

"Harry!" Draco called from his spot in the garden. He had been looking for Harry now for an hour, the boy always did find the hardest places to hide in.

It had been almost two months since the green eyed boy had come to stay at the Manor. They had originally been very wary of each other, Draco thinking the other boy would steel his parents attention away and Harry due to his shyness. But after a week they became fast friends and now you could rarely see one without the other.

Harry had introduced him to the game Hide-and-Seek a few days before and Draco had found the game amusing so they played it regularly now. However, while playing earlier Narcissa had caught her son and told him to find Harry so that they could get ready. Tonight they were going to have a very important guest.

Draco got ready to yell for Harry again when a tap on his shoulder startled him. He whirled on his 'attacker' nearly hitting Harry in the process.

"Harry…don't do that!" Draco huffed.

Harry grinned. "What do you want? I thought we were playing still." He turned and headed towards the Manor, Draco following him

"Mother want us to clean up, we have an important guest arriving." Harry tensed briefly, but he shook his head and continued on.

"Did she say who?"

"No." Draco let his friends reaction slide. It was one thing he had gotten used to over the weeks. Harry would tense every so often when someone said something, it had to do with his time living with the muggles. At least that was what his father had said when he had asked. He would figure it out though, eventually.

They entered the Manor and were greeted with Narcissa ordering the head house elf. She saw them and rushed them to their rooms to get ready. After washing up they changed into the formal robes that had been placed out for each of them. Draco finished first and entered Harry's room to help him with the robes.

"I can do it myself, Draco…" Harry said embarrassed, Draco fixed them anyways.

While he was still not used to the robes, Harry was getting better at putting them on, he still forgot things sometimes. Draco didn't mind helping the shorter boy, he felt some bit of pride at being able to do something better than Harry. The boy had proven a natural at many things and was doing better than Draco in quite a few areas. Flying being one of them.

A house elf popped into the room. "Young Masters is to be going downstairs. Mistress is wanting you."

They nodded, and the house elf popped away.

They hurried down the stairs, knowing that they didn't want to incur the wrath of the half veela Mistress of Malfoy Manor. They had been joking about who could possibly be coming to the manner, but they ceased their joking when met with Narcissa's glare.

"Get into the foyer. You will both be on your absolute best behavior when he arrives." Narcissa pushed them into the room where Lucius already was waiting.

"Cissa? Who is coming?" Harry asked.

"I-" She was interrupted by the whoosh of the fireplace.

Two people stepped out of the fireplace. The first was a young girl with honey brown hair and large chocolate eyes that looked around the foyer with curiosity. The second was a tall raven haired teen with sharp crimson eyes.

Harry after recognizing the second person disregarded all etiquette and hugged his dark haired friend. "Tom! You're back."

Draco, confused by Harry's actions, watched his antics with interest. He wondered how exactly Harry knew their guest. He had begun to glare at Tom, but then masked his expression not knowing why he was mad at him.

The girl noticed none of this as she was too amazed by her surroundings. The high ceiling of the foyer depicted a grand battle, she let her gaze wander to the rest of the room lingering briefly on each piece of furniture and hanging. She looked back to Tom after she had finished inspecting the room.

"Mr. Riddle?" she asked tugging on Toms robes.

"Harry, I would like to introduce you to Hermione." Harry pulled away from Tom and looked at her.

"Hello." They both echoed, assessing each other. Harry glanced at Draco noticing his blank face.

"Draco introduce yourself." Lucius prompted quietly.

Draco walked towards Hermione. He held out his hand stiffly. "Draco Malfoy." Hermione took it.

"Hermione Granger." She said briefly. Draco let his hand fall as she let go and then proceeded to ignore everyone.

Harry let his friends cold actions pass, too excited at Tom's return to really notice. He followed Tom closely into one of the smaller dining halls. He tried to place himself between Tom and Draco, but Hermione beat him to the seat. He took the place on Tom's other side and hid his disappointment.

Dinner passed with out hassle, Tom and Lucius discussed the politics of the wizarding world with Narcissa adding to the conversation occasionally. Harry paid little attention to the conversation preferring to stare at Tom or Hermione. He pouted at the lack of attention, but he didn't have to wait long before the children were dismissed.

He, Draco and Hermione left the dining hall and went to the library at Hermione's request. Once they arrived Hermione found a book to read a placed her self on the couch.

"Draco? Why are you mad at me?" Harry asked grabbing the blonde's robe sleeve. Draco scowled and knocked Harry's hand away.

"You like Tom better, go play with him." Draco climbed the bookcase ladder and sat on the top rung.

"No, you're wrong!" Harry exclaimed as he stood at the base of the ladder. "You're my best friend!"

"Really?" Draco asked, looking down at Harry.

"Yep." Harry smiled turning his face up. Draco jumped from the top of the ladder and landed next to Harry. "Wish you wouldn't do that," Harry mumbled. Draco only grinned at him.

Lucius turned to the Dark Lord. It was strange seeing his master in his teenage body, at first he hadn't believed the boy to be his master. However, the power he controlled had been the same. After being put under Crucio a couple of times he had believe that his Lord was back.

"My Lord, the girl. Who is she?" Lucius had to ask.

"She is a muggle-born."

"A mudblood! My Lord, you can't be serious, I can understand the Potter boy, but a mudblood?" Lucius eyed the teenage visage of the Dark Lord warily.

Narcissa looked between the two. "My Lord we can't possibly keep them all here it would be suspicious. There would be too much power here that the ministry could pick up. I assume that the girl is powerful?"

Voldemort twirled the wine glass before taking another sip. "Yes, she is powerful. Very powerful, and she has a thirst for knowledge to use her power."

Lucius refrained from asking more about the girl lest he irritate the Dark Lord.

"With the three most powerful wizarding children in my grasp, Dumbledore won't know what hit him." He took a sip before smirking. "The girl is related to me, if distantly."

The two Malfoy's looked at him in confusion. "My Lord?"

"My aunt, disgusting muggle that she was, is the girls great grandmother. It was only right for me to take her from her parents." He leaned back in his chair. "They couldn't even begin to understand how much power she possesses."

"My Lord, if they are all as powerful as we believe them to be, what will we do when they spike?" Narcissa asked carefully. "Won't that alert the ministry?"

"I will ward the Manor against the ministries detectors. All will go according to plan."

And to the next chapter.