August 2001

Lethifold Attacks Grow in Number

The Ministry for Magic is urging the Wizarding community to be on their guard at all times at the growing number of Lethifold attacks. The creature, who hunts at night, is distantly related to the Dementor. The first case in Britain came earlier last month when the last members of the Bones family returned from the Caribbean from a family holiday. The creature, who resembles a cloak, had managed to tuck itself into the family's luggage and killed the youngest son, Billy, whilst he slept in his bedroom. The family only realised this creature had travelled home with them when Billy's older sister Susan had gone to check on him. Alarmed, she used the patronus charm to cast the creature away.

The current number of death by breeding Lethifold's is now as high as fifty. A spokesperson for the Ministry commented, ''We are currently researching ways in which to control these creatures as fast as possible. Like the Dementor, it cannot be killed as it is an amortal creature. The only known way to conquer a Lethifold is the patronus charm which was found out by Flavius Belby in 1792. We strongly urge the community to be on their guard and in households of more than one person to keep watch as Lethifolds attack their prey whilst it sleeps."

It is understood that all departments at the Ministry have joined forces to help try to reduce the number of Lethifold attacks-

Draco put the morning Prophet on the dining table and helped himself to another slice of toast. His life at work had become much more stressful since the first report of a Lethifold attack. The Bones family had in fact, unknowingly, brought two of the wraith-like creatures back with them and the attacks that had happened were witnessed, otherwise the Lethifold's attacks would have gone un-reported due to the fact that they leave no evidence of being there. He had been promoted to the Head of his department now and had to make sure that all trading going in and out of the Ministry was thoroughly checked, something which had him working until the early hours of the morning if there was a lot of work to do.

The Auror Office were training all members of staff how to produce a corporeal patronus, the Minister had declared that he wanted all members of staff to be able to produce one; to prevent any more attacks taking place. After many lessons, Draco finally managed to produce one in the form of a snake; using the memory of his night in Paris with Tori as his happy memory.

On the plus side, things between him and his father had slightly improved. The two went for a weekly drink at the local muggle pub, something which Lucius was disgusted with at first; but Draco talked him around and said that times had changed and the Malfoys had to be seen as less prejudiced now, mostly because Dolores Umbridge, who the Malfoys had been on excellent terms with before and during the war, had been sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban due to her crimes against muggleborns.

He saw Astoria on a weekly basis too, having taken her to Venice for a few days on one of his trips to the beautiful city. She had become a great help to him, offering her ear when he needed to talk to someone about the things that were bothering him. There had been no more kissing since they had returned from Paris and Draco assumed that Astoria wanted to wait for him to make amends with the people he had wronged like he said he wanted to.

Draco's friendships had changed too, with Blaise and Theodore seeing a different side to him. They often went on a lad's night to The Three Broomsticks or The Leaky Cauldron and although he could still come across as a cold and proud man, they had said to him that they could see he was trying to be better than the immature school bully that he had once been. Pansy was still trying to coax a reaction out of him, having bumped into his ex on a night out with Gregory and Blaise in the middle of July; she had pulled a stranger out of the crowd and snogged the poor bloke, to which Draco called her a desperate cow and turned his attention back to his friends. Pansy still hadn't come to terms with him moving on with his life and couldn't accept that she was no longer a part of it.

Finishing off his toast before his mother even had a chance to talk to him, he kissed Narcissa's cheek and pulled on his summer cloak to leave for work. It wasn't even eight o'clock in the morning yet but he wanted to have an early start to the day. Once the cloak was in place, he crossed to the fireplace in the living room and chucked in the floo powder before stepping into the green flames. He stepped out of the fireplace in his new office, which he hadn't felt the need to decorate much, a black sheet decorated the sideboard which was where he kept bottles of brandy for late nights at the office. His desk had several pieces of parchment, quills and ink bottles sat in the drawer and his intray was overflowing with letters and paperwork that needed to be concluded by the end of the day.

He managed to get most of his letters replied to by lunchtime but had an emergency meeting with the Deputy Head of the Improper Use of Magic Department due to illegal trading of jewellery in Knockturn Alley and with Draco working in the trade department, the two had to come up with strategies in which they could reduce this amount of crime. After returning to his office for a quick sandwich, he returned to his letters and paperwork, knowing that he'd have to miss the next patronus training session with the Aurors if he had a chance of finishing before midnight.

That night he sat at his desk, pouring himself another glass of brandy. He was finishing a lengthy letter to Edouard Rosier, explaining why he couldn't do an assignment that the old man wanted him to do. Due to the amount of work he had now, he had to decline the old man's 'request' for Draco knew that Edouard had made it perfectly clear that he wanted Draco to be his lap-dog. He sighed and pushed the letter away from him, standing up to walk around his office, he had been sat down the majority of the night doing paperwork and felt the need to stretch his legs.

There was a knock on the door and Draco had no idea who it would be, for most of the Ministry staff were still clocked in with their own amount of paperwork to complete.

"Come in." Draco called, downing the last of his brandy.

The door opened and in stepped the last person Draco had expected a visit from. The man shut the door, still looking the same as when they had left school. The man who had been his greatest enemy during their school years.

"What has the Minister sent you here for Potter?"

Harry blinked, "I've been told to ask you why you weren't at training today?"

"I was busy sorting out my paperwork. The Auror Office isn't the only office in this place to have more work put on their shoulders."

"There's no need for attitude Malfoy, you know the Minister has declared all members of staff need this training and must attend all sessions. No excuses."

The two men stopped talking when they heard a rustling sound behind them. Both drew their wands and turned in a circle, wondering what had made that rustling noise. There was an eerie silence and Draco turned around to see a wraith-like creature going to attack Harry. He stood to the spot, this was worse than an encounter with a dementor. The room went cold and the Lethifold began to circle itself around Harry and Draco could hear his old rival choking and in a few minutes, Harry would be unconscious and the Lethifold would claim The Chosen One as its next victim.

He began to think of Astoria, he hadn't seen her in two weeks; she was on holiday in Greece with her family. But he pictured her friendly face with her warm smile and floral scent of her perfume. Withdrawing his wand and closing his eyes to keep up the memory of Paris in his head once more, he raised his arm and yelled, "EXPECTO PATRONUM." before opening his eyes to watch the snake slither fast towards the Lethifold and the creature immediately released Harry and flew swiftly out of sight.

Harry was breathing rather deeply, trying to get more oxygen into his body that the Lethifold had starved him of. Draco helped him to his feet and the two stood in an awkward silence.

"You saved my life."

Draco shrugged, "You did the same for me once, it seemed like the right thing to do."

Harry frowned, "Thanks Malfoy."

"Don't mention it."

The two men shook hands, "Shall we say that we're even?" Harry suggested.

Draco nodded, "I'd like to say that, ever since the war ended; I haven't been able to come to terms with what I did. So for my part I apologise."

"Apology accepted, I need to tell the Minister about this attack."

Draco smiled slightly but then resumed his normal cold manner. Harry released Draco's hand and went to turn but Draco called him back.

"This doesn't mean we're friends Potter."

Harry nodded his understanding, "I don't expect us to be. But I can see that you're making amends for what you did and that I think is rather righteous of you." and then he left the office.

Draco poured himself another glass of brandy and drained it in one. He finished his letter to Edouard Rosier and sent it off with one of the Ministry owls. He pulled on his cloak and chucked some floo powder into the fireplace, wanting to head home and get some sleep; he needed to after the night he had.

A/N: So I hope you all liked this chapter, this story will be finished off soon as I need to tie up some loose ends with Draco and Tori. Please let me know what you thought.