I like making Draco sweet even though he's complete a** to everyone else haha all right, keep reading.
Chapter Quote:
"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive. Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"
~Draco Malfoy
Chapter 9
Draco
Draco played with the locket cuff links that Ziva had given him for Christmas as he sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall; they were silver with the letter 'M' engraved on them. Inside the cuff link on his left sleeve was the third picture he'd taken with her in the photo booth at Harrods. The cuff link on his right sleeve was the fourth picture.
Pansy was sitting next to him; Goyle was on his other side. Crabbe, Zabini, and Pike sat in front. They blocked his view of Ziva who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying a story Seamus was telling. He probably blew something up again. He had a nasty habit of it. Thankfully Malfoy had never been near Seamus when he blew things up.
A shrill "hem hem" interrupted his thoughts. Umbridge stood there, looking very pleased. "I need to speak to members of the Inquisitorial Squad."
Draco stood up along with his friends and a few other Slytherins. Umbridge led them out to the Great Hall and said enthusiastically, "We will attack Harry Potter and his followers tomorrow night. They have gone on with these illegal activities for far too long. They're meeting after dinner. Meet me on the seventh floor corridor at seven-thirty. We attack at eight."
The Slytherins nodded, smirking and being arrogantly boisterous. Malfoy went along but inside, he was petrified. He didn't want Ziva getting punished. He knew for a while she was a part of Harry's little group even though she never said anything about it; Draco never brought it up in fear she'd stop seeing him. Umbridge's punishment would be brutal. Those pens she used. Even Draco thought they were a cruel form of punishment but he would never admit to it, not in front of his peers. He'd be considered weak, then they'd wonder why, then they'd keep an eye on him, and sooner or later, they would find out about Ziva. He couldn't let that happen. When the crowd dispersed, Draco slipped out of the Great Hall and went to the owlery.
Jade
The next day…
"Jade! Elliot! Can you guys come here?" Ziva hollered from the girls' dormitory. Jade and Elliot, who had been in the bathroom, went to their best friend.
"What's up, Z?" Jade queried. Her friend was holding a night, looking perplexed.
"I just got this note from someone saying for me to meet them tonight at the owlery but it's at the same time of the D.A. meeting. I don't know if this is some trap so can you guys go with me?" she pleaded.
"Oh come on, I was going to get to see Seamus tonight!" Jade complained.
"And I was going to get to see Neville!" Elliot added.
"It's just this once guys. And we have plenty more D.A. meetings before the end of the year. I don't trust it not to be a trap and if it's an ambush on me by some Slytherins, then I want to have back up. Please?"
Jade huffed but agreed. "Fine, but you owe me big time."
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Ziva exclaimed sincerely. She leapt of the bed, saying she was going to tell Hermione that they wouldn't be attending tonight.
Jade looked over at Elliot. "Is it me or she still acting funny?"
"Ever since that run in with Malfoy last summer and on the train coming to Hogwarts, she's been quieter. I wonder what happened."
The two girls had interrogated Ziva multiple times about what was going on but each time, their friend blew it off as being tired from school. It was a viable excuse. Ziva did have a ton of homework, especially because she was taking more elective classes than Jade and Elliot. But school just didn't seem to be the problem. It was hard to explain. Ziva was tired but energetic, quiet but happy. There was no sense to be made of the situation.
"Maybe she's secretly seeing someone," Elliot suggested.
"Maybe she's keeping quiet because it's Seamus or Neville she's seeing," Jade mused aloud, and then growled, "If that's the case, she's going to die."
"Why am I going to die?" Ziva inquired, stepping into the room. She looked genuinely curious.
"Are you secretly sneaking around with Seamus or Neville?" Elliot questioned seriously, taking a step forward.
"What the hell, Elliot? No, of course I'm not. I don't do that. I'm not that type of person. What brought that up?"
"Because something's wrong with you and we can't tell what!" Jade explained. "You're tired yet energetic, you're quiet but happy. You're fidgeting a lot nowadays. Something's up and we want to know."
"I'm fidgeting because it's the only thing keeping me awake. The movement helps. Come on, let's go down to the owlery. That's where the note said to meet at."
The girls, led by Ziva, walked out of their room. They passed Harry and Ziva said, "Harry? I'm really sorry we're missing it tonight. Do you think you could teach us what we miss tonight another time? I heard we were learning Patronuses."
"Patronuses?!" Jade demanded. "Of all nights to miss, we miss the best one. This sucks."
"Yeah. Here. All you do is think of the happiest memory you can and then say 'Expecto Patronum.' Try it."
Ziva pulled out her wand. Jade and Elliot followed. The girls closed their eyes, attempting to think of a good memory. Jade was the first to open her eyes. Her memory was when she'd been accepted to Hogwarts. She'd had nightmares about it for years, wondering if she'd make it in or if they would reject her.
Elliot opened her eyes next; Ziva was last. Jade tried it first; although her Patronus didn't turn into an animal, she produced a well-sized shield. Elliot's attempt was a little more successful. The head of hyena popped up but then it disappeared. She grinned cheerfully.
Ziva was next. She looked sort of nervous, but very determined at the same time. Waving her wand, she said, "Expecto Patronum!"
The silvery blue light of the Patronus charm spewed out of her wand. At first, nothing appeared and Jade started to feel better that even Ziva was having trouble with the spell. However, within a few seconds, a huge wolf with intelligent eyes was glancing at the six Gryffindors. Ziva was beaming as she moved her wand. The wolf moved along, trotting to its destination.
"I'll send this menace after Umbridge," Ziva joked. "Maybe that'll get to toad out of Hogwarts."
The groups laughed and Harry complimented, "Well done! All of you! That's really difficult magic to do. And Ziva, you'd be my hero if you accomplished getting Umbridge out of here. Jade, Elliot, just keep practicing. You'll get the animal soon, I promise. It took me ages to get my Patronus in full form."
"Thanks Harry," Jade said sweetly.
"Well, we must be off. We'll see you later and have fun at the meeting!" Ziva said. The girls waved bye and went down to the owlery. They took their time, discussing the Patronus charm and who could be waiting for them. Jade could tell Ziva wanted it to be Zabini and Pike. She wanted her own revenge on them but Jade didn't blame her. She would feel the same way. However, she doubted it would be the two Slytherins.
It took them fifteen minutes to get to the owlery. They walked around, searching for anyone who might be there but no one was to be found.
"Lumos!" Ziva whispered. The tip of her wand illuminated the inside of the owlery. She went up the stairs, carefully searching for anyone who might be there. Jade listened but heard nothing except her and Elliot's breathing and Ziva's footsteps.
"There's no one here!" Ziva shouted from the top of the owlery. The owls that were sleeping hooted in protest against their rude awakening but the girls ignored them.
"I say we wait five more minutes and if no one shows, we head back to the castle. I don't like this," Elliot said suspiciously.
"I say we head back now. We might be able to attend the last part of the DA meeting!" Jade encouraged.
"You just want to see Seamus," Ziva pointed out drolly.
"So sue me," she retorted. "Come on, I don't like this. Besides, if we're caught, someone might think we're up to something."
"Yeah, let's go. I don't like this." Ziva led the way back to the castle. This time the girls hurried, not wanting to be caught this time of night. They made their way up to the seventh floor and were heading towards the Room of Requirement when Ziva suddenly slammed Jade and Elliot against the wall behind her. She herself peered around the corner of the wall. Jade and Elliot looked as well. Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad were forcing the D.A. members out of the Room of Requirement. The room's entrance had been destroyed. Jade saw Malfoy turning around; it was as if he sensed the stares of the three Gryffindors. The girls barely managed to hide their heads behind the wall again. They held their breath, praying he hadn't seen them. Elliot grabbed Jade and Ziva's hands and pulled them back towards the door the Grand Staircase.
The girls ran quietly out of the seventh floor corridor and to the Fat Lady portrait. They barely managed to get inside the Gryffindor common room before Umbridge, with the D.A. members and Inquisitorial Squad behind her, headed down the stairs.
"Am I the only one who finds it weird that the night we get a note saying to meet some random stranger, well, for Ziva to, the D.A. gets discovered?" Jade demanded, plopping on the couch.
"Why would someone do that though? If it was anyone other than a Slytherin who knew that Umbridge and her idiots would be busting the D.A. tonight, they would've told Harry who would've let everyone else know. No Slytherin would've told us about that," Elliot reasoned.
"Someone either knew about it and sent that letter to Ziva to protect her or it was just a really big coincidence that we all missed the D.A. meeting the night that it got busted."
Jade, realizing Ziva had been silent ever since they got into the common room, inquired, "What do you think Z?"
"I don't know what to think," she admitted. She looked deeply troubled by the turn of events. Jade suspected Ziva knew more than she was letting on. "I'm going to bed. And then I'm going to Umbridge tomorrow and turning myself in. I'm not letting the rest of the D.A. take the fall when I was just as much a part of it as they were."
"Ziva, you can't be serious!" Elliot gasped. "She's probably going to use that bloody pen and that pain is horrendous! You don't want to go through that!"
"I can't just sit here and do nothing! I'll feel so guilty," she wrangled, walking up the stairs. "I won't be talked out of this."
Ziva went up to the girls' dormitory, leaving Jade and Elliot with their mouths open.
"She can't be serious," Elliot said.
"We have to stop her."
"I'm guessing she knows who sent that note."
"You think? Come on, let's go to bed. We'll dissuade her in the morning."
All right people, who do you think sent the note? :D please review!