A/n: all of the characters are in this first part; they just don't all have lines… lol. It is officially summer for me! YAY! So my plan is to spend the next few days trying to finish this… hopefully… though, i havent finished nearly as much as i planed to... but who knows i might wake up tomorrow and be on a chapter rampage... But i have at least made a dent. Hopefully i can updat quicker.

Chapter twenty: Daunting

OoOo Hermione oOoO

"It's amazing." Hermione smiled as she stood at the kitchen sink. Her gaze was focused on the fields and fields of flowers. Their colorful blooms dotted with small drops of delicate rain that had fallen onto them in the last few minutes.

"I know right." Ginny said from behind her. "Everything is so different." Hermione listened. Ginny's laugh quickly filled the room. "I almost don't know how to get used to it all."

Hermione turned around to face her sister with a small smile on her face. She leaned into the counter. "It's a lot to take." Hermione laughed. "The war is over, Draco and I are married and have a child…" she trailed off. "Our cold hearted father turned into a carefree idiot who loves to watch Saturday morning cartoons, you and Harry are getting married… then pile on all of the other things going on in our lives." She shook her head with disbelief.

"He is a bit of an idiot." Ginny admitted sheepishly as she played with the embroidered napkin in front of her. She was still trying to decipher why it was made of silk.

"I hope you don't mean me." Someone said from the door. Both girls looked up quickly. They were relieved to see that it was only Harry. Draco and Blaise were both standing next to him.

"No Harry," Hermione said rolling her eyes at her long time best friend. "We do not mean you."

"Oh, well that's good." He said nonchalantly as he walked over to the table. "I thought I was going to have to prove you wrong." He joked as he sat down at the table next to Ginny. She turned and smiled at him as he took her hand.

"Knowing you, you would make an even more idiot of yourself." Draco scoffed as he leaned against a door frame.

"I'm not the idiot here." Harry said casually.

"Me, an idiot? Please, I'm not the one who got his own wand stolen from his back pocket when he went to the loo." Draco challenged.

"That was one time…!" Harry started in but Hermione stepped.

"You are both equally idiotic, so suck it up and stop fighting." Hermione said trying not to laugh as the two boys looked at her with irritation. It was almost ironic how alike the two of them were. You would never suspect that they had spent half of their lives hating each other.

"So," Blaise said changing the subject. "When do you think Luna and the others will be back?" He asked.

"I think they said they would only be about an hour." Hermione said glancing over at the clock. "They said they were apparating into London to go to that Chinese restaurant near Buckingham palace."

"Well they had better hurry up, I am Hungry." He whined. What is it with men and food?

"It's just food Blaise, you aren't going to starve." Ginny said rolling her eyes at him.

"WERE BACK!" They all looked up when they heard Taylor's voice call out through the house. Before anyone had time to move, Blaise was out of the room.

"Poor Luna," Hermione said shaking her head "I have a feeling food will be her biggest threat in there relationship." this caused the rest of them to laugh.

"I'm sorry if it's a bit smashed…" Christian said a few minutes later as he carried the food into the kitchen. "But I got mauled by a Blaise."

"BLAISE!" We all heard Luna say loudly before they heard a crash. They heard Tom, who had obviously been run into, shout a string of profanities.

"MERLIN!" Taylor shouted. "Watch where you're going!" she snapped angrily from the other room. "And get a fork… or a chopstick…" she said. Everyone in the kitchen was laughing when she walked into the room.

"You have rice in your hair…" Christian said to her. The girl just glared at him.

"Thank you captain Obvious. I do believe you are up for a promotion." She said as she pulled her food out of the sack. "If you see Blaise remind me to hide my sweet and sour chicken…" She said as she summoned a fork.

"We will be sure to do that." Hermione said laughed as she lifted the lid of her to-go box.

OoOo Later oOoO

"Who's turn is it?" Ginny asked as she flopped down onto the sofa with a soft thud next to Harry.

"I think Draco should read again." Blaise said mischievously as he folded his arms behind
his head and put his feet on the table.

"I think Blaise should read." Draco retorted with his arms across his chest.

"Oh don't be a chicken Drake." Blaise smirked.

"Give other people a turn."

"Stop arguing!" Hermione said as she wrote something on a slip of paper and handed it to Ginny. "I'm thinking of a number between one and a hundred, what is it?"

"97" Blaise said thoughtfully.

"14." Draco said.

"Blaise gets to read." Ginny said holding up the slip of parchment. "Her number was seventeen, Draco was the closest." She said tossing the book to Blaise, it landed on his lap with a smack. This made him glare at the girl. He picked it up and started to read.

OoOo Mira-Bella oOoO

I sat with my head against the wall of the Owlery and listened to the loud sounds around me. I could hear the wings of the owls fluttering above me, I could hear their soft hooting and I could hear the sound of the wind rushing through the high windows of the tower. And as much as I tried to drown it out, I could still hear the loud pounding of my heart against my rib cage.

The more I thought about what I had just done, the more I came to regret that particular decision. The thought of agreeing to do my Grandfather's bidding was a little… how would you put it? Crazy… insane… stupid… horrible… Any of those adjectives would work.

"I can do this." I whispered as I listened to my heart pound in my chest. "Malfoy's don't back down…" I was doing a better job of convincing the owl than I was myself.

It was nearly midnight when I finally pushed myself up of the floor, which was covered with owl pellets…I silently brushed the dirt off of the back of my skirt and picked my wand up off of the ground.

As I stepped back out into the rain, I cast an umbrella charm on myself. The last thing I needed was a cold. I slowly made my way back up to the castle, taking time to remember my last moments of freedom.

I, surprisingly, didn't run into any prefects as I made my way down to the common room. Though, if I did, I didn't exactly pay them any mind. I was too lost in my thoughts to really pay attention to anything or anyone.

"Green with envy." I said to the stone wall in front of me. To anyone besides a Slytherin it was just another blank wall for ghosts to walk through, but to us Slytherin's it was our front door. The stones quickly shifted to form a grand door way for me to step through, and the moment I stepped inside it slowly closed back in on itself and became a wall once more.

"Bri!" A frantic voice said from by the fire place. I jumped as I was brought from my thoughts. Jace was standing there looking at me, I could see the worry written all over his face. I looked down at my hands and started to walk towards the stairs.

I didn't get very far before he grabbed a hold of my wrist and pulled me back.

"Jace, let go of me." I said trying to pull my arm from his firm grip. I really didn't want to face him.

"No." He said, voice cracking. "I will not let you go." I continued to look down, this time at my feet. "Look at me." He said, I just shook my head at him.

"Please." He whispered. When I refused to look up he brought his hand up to my face and tilted my hand up to look at him. I closed my eyes tightly so that I wouldn't have to look him in the eye. I could hear him sigh.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?" He asked quietly.

"Doing what to myself? I didn't know I was doing anything." I lied, I knew exactly what he meant. "I thought I was saving my dad and helping my mum find happiness again." I told him with my eyes still closed.

I heard him scoff at that. "You're doing that…" He admitted, "But you're also selling your soul to the devil." This caused my eyes to snap open.

"It's my decision and if I back out now, he will know something is up." I said obstinately as I squirmed in his grip.

"There are other ways…" He started to say but I cut him off.

"And what are they? Because honestly I can't think of a single thing we could possibly do" besides this that will tell us what 'they' are." I said looking at the ceiling and then back at him. "And I can do this with, or without your help." I finally managed to get my wrist out of his grip and take a step back. "So make up your mind." I turned quickly and climbed the stairs, tears in my eyes. When I reached the top I heard him curse at the wind. I hoped I was doing this right.

~one week Later~

I took in a deep breath as I watched my owl, Fledermaus, (1) (because of her dark color and bat like ears) , flew into the great hall with a small parcel tied to her talons. I felt my heart stop as she dropped it onto the table in front of me. I could feel all of their eyes on me; them being the ones who knew. I glanced at Jace from the corner of my eye; he looked as if he hadn't slept in days. Ally, who was sitting across from him, had red puffy eyes from all of the tears she had shed for me. I guess I can understand, I would feel the same if my best friend pulled something like this. And the others, well they were oblivious to what was going on.

I slowly reached forward and picked up the parcel in front of me. I could see the words 'Miranda Isabelle' written across the clean white surface of the parchment in violet ink. I closed my eyes as I slipped my finger under the textured wax seal and peeled it from the paper. I took a deep breath.

I slid the parchment from within the envelope and tried to act as natural as possible while doing so, I could still feel their eyes on me. I opened my eyes and looked down at the letter before me and let the letters form words in my mind.

Miranda,

Yes, my offer still stands. I am pleased to hear that you have taken it into consideration. A port key will arrive at the gates of the school tonight at midnight. It will bring you to a secret location to where we can talk properly. If you are up to something, I will know.

Tom.

I let out my breath as I took out my wand and evaporated the letter. I knew that I would be murdered if anyone were to see that letter. I looked down at my watch only to see that it was a quarter to seven. That was bad news, which meant I only had a little over five hours till what was sure to be the death of me.

I looked over at Jace as I stood up, trying to tell him to follow me, I just hope he got the memo. I let myself leave the room calmly and made my way down to the common room. I could hear Jace following close behind.

OoOo A/N oOoO

Fledermaus means Bat in German… The one German word that I know… lol so technically shes an owl named bat. ( Bat as in the flying creature)

Did you love it? Like it?

OHHH whats going to happen next?

Do you think Jace will help Brianne?

What will Voldemort do (and I will let you know now that he is the cold hearted person he once was… not my fluffy bunny Voldemort…)

Will you keep reading?

So its officially summer for me, and I have tons of time till June… which is a good thing. Durring June I hope to update quite regularly. Like every other day… Please Review!

~Taylor (Slytherin at heart)