A/N: Still don't own Draco =( J.K. Rowling still owns the entire HP Universe, but she thankfully doesn't seem to mind me borrowing her characters.
I know I said I'd update every Saturday, but I just calculated how long that would take to finish this fic. The dates clash with my Final Semester exams, when I will be too busy studying to even consider opening this site. So posting will happen more frequently now! Yay!
Special thanks to SilverRiv for being amazingly supportive with this fic and accepting the role of BETA! She begins as the official beta from this chapter, although she's been correcting my mistakes right from the start :P She did an amazing job, and any errors you find are probably because I couldn't resist making a few last min additions after this chapter was beta'd. Thank you so much, SilverRiv!
And now, on to the chapter...
Chapter 3:
Damn that useless Muggleborn witch!
Draco Malfoy fumed to himself as he hurried to the edge of Hogwarts' grounds, shrouded from the moonlight by the ancient trees.
He'd tried to warn her off, damn it, but she was too stubborn for her own good.
His Dark Mark was burning and it was all he could do not to vocalize his pain. Icarus Zabini, the new self-appointed head of the Death Eaters, enjoyed causing as much pain as possible with his summons.
Draco sprinted across the grounds, Disapparating to the Manor the moment he was clear of the castle's wards.
Propping up his Occlumency wards in his mind, he tentatively entered his house. That's all it was now-a house, not the home it had once been. Since Voldemort returned, it had become something of a free lodge for all kinds of dark witches and wizards. He hated them all, and it was disturbing how easily he could have become one of them. Hell, everyone still expected it to happen.
And now those idiotic free-loaders were trying to bring Voldemort back.
Draco knew things would only go from bad to worse if that happened. The others may have forgotten, but Draco still remembered how easily the Dark Lord turned on even his most loyal followers, punishing them mercilessly for the tiniest of mistakes.
He'd tried to nip the plan in the bud already, warning Granger in as much of a capacity as he could. Fat lot of good that had done. He'd only managed to sink himself lower among the Death Eater ranks-if that was even possible at this point – and his every move was now being carefully monitored by his so-called friends.
There wasn't really much to be done at this point, anyway, except to watch how the events played out.
Granger may be stubborn, but she was definitely resourceful. Her actions with Lestrange more than proved that point.
There may be some hope after all, he concluded, making his way through the winding hallways of his mansion, heading towards the Dining/Plotting-World-Domination Room.
This had better be a quick meeting. He'd have to be back in Hogwarts by sunrise, or he'd end up the prime suspect in Granger's disappearance.
Oh, how he loved irony.
A/N: Please leave a review! I welcome all your opinions-it helps me understand what the reader expects, so I can write better in future :)
I know it's short, but the next chappie will be up by Saturday, my lovelies!
Thanks to imadoodlenoodle, chemicalflashes, garbleturkey, ADragons-LionHeart, JustMeMarissa, AngeloftheAurora, BooBooKittyluv, Lilhipkaligurl, PraiseGod, Sadler26, lynnchan111, midnight-rxse , sln1987, Carinalove67, Chacha Cyrus, DarkWitch, Esthela89, HPotter25, Karmidee, Lupine Princess, Madelun, Montyyx, , PADfootBalck, Schizo Zombie Kitten, SweetSage, Tsuki916, agj-girlalulateu, annie26100, .s., enchanted16, gingernightowl, hockey1, kvance, madgordon18, poiuytrewqasdfghjklmnbvcxz, and xomagooxo.
You guys made my day!
~craaazyaboutMalfoy