Sitting in their regular seats in the Great Hall, Hermione peered around at the other students. The hall was bursting with people eagerly awaiting the start of yet another year. In front of the high table the new first years all stood shyly, curiosity etched into each of their faces, all desperate to know what house the Sorting Hat was going to put them in.
'I remember being up there,' she said pointing to the first years, 'I was so scared, I had no idea which house I was going to be put in' Hermione stated as she turned back to her friends.
'Same. Fred and George said they'd hex me to oblivion if I got put in Slytherin, I felt like my heart was gunna jump out of my chest!' Ron chimed in.
'Do you blame them though?' Hermione playfully added.
'Hey! I was meant to be in Slytherin. But I begged to be in Gryffindor 'cause my parents were. I think the hat must have felt sorry for me' Harry chuckled.
'Then I must be the only person that wasn't bothered which house I was put in. Even Slytherin wouldn't have bothered me, green looks good on me' Ginny joked.
'Anything looks good on you Gin' Harry shrugged. Ron let out a disgusted noise as Ginny's face turned from a pale peach to a crimson red.
'Awrh, you're so sweet Harry' she teased as she slid her arm around his waist pulling him into a friendly embrace.
'Seriously Ginny! I'm about to eat, I don't want to vomit thanks' Ron spat, earning himself a murderous look from his sister.
'Shut up and go find Lavender Ron.' Ginny growled at him.
At the sound of Professor Dumbledore clearing his voice on the high table, all students were silent as they turned to listen to their Headmaster.
'Welcome back students! I would like to begin by hoping you all had a good holiday. We will begin by sorting the first years into their houses then once the feast has finished ill brief you all on the new school rules. Now, I would like to ask that the prefects assist with the well being of the first years and help them to settle into their new lives at Hogwarts. Now, shall we begin the sorting?'
As the sorting hat quickly went to work, sorting the students between the four houses, claps and cheers echoed around the hall as each table welcomed there new housemates.
Once the sorting was done and all students were seated, Dumbledore stood once more. With a clap of his hands food appeared on all tables, 'Let the feast begin' he proclaimed before sitting back down.
'So Harry, when does practice start? Seamus Finnegan asked, as he appeared next to Ron.
'Yeh Harry, do you know yet? Dean Thomas added, who was now sat next to Harry.
'Hey guys. I'm not sure yet, I'll ask Madam Hooch when I next see her' Harry assured the two boys.
'Thanks' they both beamed as they began to shovel food into their mouths. Ron, who was already putting his second helpings on his plate, pointed his food covered fork in Ginny's direction.
'Don't forget to sign up Gin' he simply stated before returning his full attention to his food.
'Such a pig' Hermione muttered as she gracefully ate the small helping she'd placed on her plate.
'Try growing up with six boys, all exactly like that' Ginny said with disgust as she nodded in Ron's direction. Hermione giggled, being the only girl must have been hard work for Ginny, but secretly a small amount of jealousy sat in the pit of Hermione's stomach. She would have loved to have grown up with six brothers who all looked out for her and made sure she was happy. Yeh they were disgusting at times, but they'd taught her things Hermione would never be able to do and smothered her in more love then she had ever seen before. Sighing, Hermione placed the last forkful of food in her mouth and swallowed it, just as Dumbledore stood once more.
'Now, I would like to issue some warnings. As we all are fully aware, he-who-shall-not-be-named has returned, meaning we will be taking extra precautions to ensure your safety. The first change to rules will be Hogsmeade. When visiting we will be accompanied by Auror's. You and your friends will be arranged into groups of your choice, each with an Auror to ensure safety. There will also be Auror's hidden throughout the village for extra precaution. Secondly, the main doors will close an hour and half before the first year's curfew. Therefore no one should be outside after this time. The Forbidden Forest as you already know is of limits. We also recommend when outside, to stay in twos. Even though we are taking these extra precautions, we do not want anyone to worry. We do not necessarily need these to be in place, we just want to be ready in case of any emergencies' with a click of his fingers the feast disappeared from the table, much to Ron's disappointment, 'Enjoy the rest of your night, and I expect to see you all back here at seven thirty tomorrow. Good night' with that, Dumbledore elegantly walked away from the Great Hall leaving the students to think over what he'd just said.
'Professor Dumbledore, may I have a word with you please?' Draco panted as he ran after the headmaster.
'Ah, Master Malfoy. If you'd like to accompany me to my office and we can have this discussion there?' He asked, with a small grin on his face.
'Please Sir' he agreed as he walked side by side with the Professor. How people can dislike this man is beyond me… Draco thought to himself as he looked at the somewhat happy teacher.
Upon reaching the gargoyle on the seventh floor, Dumbledore chuckled as he spoke the password, 'Ice Mice'. Draco watched in fascination as the gargoyle leaped aside, revealing a wall which split in two, uncovering a spiral stone staircase. As he and the headmaster stepped onto the stairs they began to slowly ascend towards a highly polished oak door with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin. Behind them the gargoyle returned to its place, closing of the opening. As the door at the top swung open a large and beautiful circular room was revealed. The windows appeared to offer a view of some of the mountains surrounding the castle and the Quidditch pitch. The walls of the office were covered with portraits of what Draco presumed were previous Headmasters and Headmistresses. The wall immediately behind the Headmaster's desk had a shelf holding the Sorting Hat which had already been replaced since the feast. Gryffindor's sword was sitting in a glass case beside the Sorting Hat. On the other side of the office a large fireplace was set in the wall, presumably for Floo, the other holding hundreds of shelves stacked high with books.
Facing the door, there sat an enormous, claw-footed desk. The surface looked as if it was highly polished, on it there was a silver ink pot with a handsome scarlet quill (possibly a phoenix feather) and a large amount of papers. A highly backed decorative chair sat behind the desk, while a more simple designed chair sat in front of it. Several spindly-legged tables supporting various silver instruments that seemed to whir and emit little puffs of smoke sat around the office. By the door a beautiful Phoenix, which Draco remembered to be called Fawkes, was perched on a golden stand.
'Take a seat Draco, now I think I may know what you've come here to talk to me about' Dumbledore emphasised, before continuing, 'I have been made fully aware that you now wear the Dark Mark. Before you tell me what it is you need, I must stress that I will help you in any way I can if you will just let me. There are many ways in which I can assist, such as putting your family into hiding and protecting you from he-who-shall-not-be-named until it is safe for you to continue with your life. You may not think it, but I know that you are a good person Draco. You are not a murderer, nor are you dark' Dumbledore insisted. As he opened his mouth to speak again Draco quickly spoke.
'That's why I came to you Professor. I do not want this disgusting thing,' he spat as he pulled up his sleeve showing it to the Headmaster, tears shone in his eyes as he digested Dumbledore's words, 'I want to be on the light side. I want this whole thing to end. I want my family to realise that thing there supporting is not only a monster, but a hypercritical monster at that. I want them to go away from all of this, to be safe and not want to cause trouble anymore. You're right. I'm no murderer, and I'm not as evil as I make out to be. I do it all to try and please my Father, but even then I never seem to do a good enough job. I'd rather let Voldermort kill me then have to listen to all of this rubbish for a moment longer' he confessed as his tears began to now spill down his cheeks. 'Do you realise how horrible my holiday was? To feel threatened in my own home, to know that downstairs he was killing and torturing innocent people for not being pureblood! Death echoed through my whole house headmaster. I felt sick and scared just being there. He forced me to have this on my arm, said that if I didn't he'd torture and kill my family before my eyes before doing the same to me. His disgusting un-human hand touching my arm made me want to vomit as he branded me one of his lowlife followers. He's given me my first task Sir, and I refuse to do it. He can kill my family and me for all I care, but I refuse to be part of that' He finished, wiping the now pouring tears from his face with his sleeve. The Headmaster sat with a look of pure shock on his face, clearly not expecting a Malfoy to open up to him like that.
'And what is this task Draco?' he asked soothingly as he handed him a handkerchief.
'He wants me to fix a vanishing cabinet in the room of requirement so that the death eaters can get in sir, then once there in he wants me to…' Draco began, running his hands roughly through his hair, letting out a weak sob, 'kill you.'
'Ahh. Well I can see how that would help in his rain to get domination of the wizarding world!' Dumbledore chuckled. Draco looked up, a look of bewilderment evident on his features. How can he laugh at something like this? He thought to himself.
'With me helping Harry, it's a lot harder for him to do that you see. If you would like, I can talk to the Ministry and offer you and your family a safe place to go to?' Dumbledore calmly asked.
The corners of Draco's mouth lifted in a weak smile as he nodded his head. 'I would like for you to do that for my family Sir, but I would rather stay in Hogwarts. I'll go to my lessons then straight back to my room, and even stay behind rather than go to Hogsmeade. I just don't want to leave Hogwarts…'
'I'll try my hardest Draco, but a lot of changes will have to be made I assure you that. Thank you for trusting me, and now you know the password, anytime you want your welcome to come up here to speak to me or get away from it all. Now go and unpack, lessons start tomorrow!' Dumbledore chirped. With another shy smile Draco left the room.
PLEASE REVIEWWWWWWWW!
It would mean a lot to me... Plus I want to know peoples opinions so I can decide whether or not to carry on or leave it.
I'll love you forever :p