Chapter 12

Beams of sunlight were streaming into his bedroom when Draco awoke to shouting coming from downstairs. He checked his watch, which was lying by the side of his bed. It was slightly past 8:45 in the morning.

He bolted out of bed when he saw the time. He got dressed as quickly as he could, snatched up his wand and ran downstairs. He should have been downstairs training with his aunt nearly two hours ago, and judging by how angry she sounded, she was probably going to skin him alive for being late.

Draco nearly crashed into Amanda Annen on the way downstairs. He left her standing by her bedroom on the second floor, screaming about how he had almost knocked her over. He met his mother at the bottom of the stairs.

"Your aunt and I have been wondering when you were going to come downstairs." said Narcissa.

"Is she furious?" asked Draco, nervously. He knew that that was a pretty redundant question, since they could hear Bellatrix shrieking very loudly from where they were standing.

"Yes," replied Narcissa. "But I'm not sure whether it's because you're late. She's in the room at the end of the hall." She gestured to the room where Draco had met the Dark Lord the previous day and he quickly went there. He hesitated before knocking on the door.

No one answered. The people in the room were probably yelling too loudly to hear the knock. Draco tried to let himself in, but the door was locked. He knocked again. Still, no one came to the door. He leaned against it and listened to the dispute that was going on inside.

"You still haven't answered my question, Crouch. You're still denying it!" screeched Bellatrix.

"Actually, I've answered the same question at least five times today," came the voice of Barty Crouch. "The problem is not that I am ignoring your question; you just don't like my answer. I am not denying what happened last night either. There would be no point in denying it, since you saw what happened with your own eyes."

"She's half-blood! Her mother was a blood-traitor, her father was a Mudblood, and her brother was a Squib! Sky's blood status couldn't be more contaminated! You're pureblood!" screamed Bellatrix.

"As much as this might surprise you," said Crouch. "It so happens that I have been aware of all of those things for over twenty years now."

"Bella," said someone. "Are you actually surprised by what happened last night? It's not like it's the first time that Sky and Barty have kissed." Draco knew that the speaker was Mulciber by his tired and irritated voice.

"This sort of stuff has been happening since their fifth year at…" came Avery's distinct and chirpy voice, but Bellatrix cut him off.

"Are you saying that you support this, Mucliber?" demanded Bellatrix. "You're pureblood also…"

"I don't really support Barty's relationship with Sky," replied Mulciber. "And in the same way I do not disapprove of it either."

Bellatrix probably wasn't too pleased by Mulciber's answer, but she didn't argue with him.

"I know what you're going to ask, so I'll just answer your question now to save time. The reason that I did what I did last night is because Sky and I love and understand each…" said Crouch.

"I'm surprised that neither of you realized that Bellatrix was watching you," interrupted Avery. "I remember when I was in my seventh year and I went to the Slytherin common room in the evening. It was Christmas time, so the Slytherin common room was very empty. I don't know how you saw me coming in since I'm pretty sure that your back was turned, but when I got there, you and Sky were…"

"Avery," said Mulciber. "You're not really skilled at sneaking by people to begin with, and considering how good Barty is at knowing when someone's watching him, it really isn't that much of a shock that Barty caught you spying on him and Sky that day."

"I was not trying to spy on them," said Avery. "I was just going to the Slytherin Common room when I…"

"Enough of this!" said Crouch. "Bellatrix, your nephew is at the door."

The next chapter will be posted soon! Review please!