*Lyrics from the song There's A Place*
In my mind there's no sorrow
Don't you know that it's so
There'll be no sad tomorrow
Don't you know that it's so
It was very early on Saturday morning when Harry stepped out of the fireplace into the Lewis' living room. He hadn't expected to find anyone awake, but Elliot was sitting in an arm chair sipping on tea and reading the Daily Prophet.
"Good morning, Harry" He said, looking up from the paper "What brings you here this early?"
"Morning, I want to see Chloe before I leave for Hogsmeade. Is she awake?"
"This early on a Saturday? My dear boy, listen to yourself"
"Mind if I go to her room and wake her up?"
"Enter at your own risk" He cautioned, and they both chuckled.
"Willa is coming to meet you both at six, and she will escort you back home at the time you decide to leave the Malfoys"
"Thank you, Harry. I trust she isn't too upset about having to work on her day off?"
"She's perfectly fine; she is in agreement that an auror should accompany you, and she really likes Chloe"
"Good. The Malfoys were very clear in their dissatisfaction at this, nonetheless"
"I expected that, but you understand why I'm doing this"
"Of course I do, Chloe not so much. She didn't use to be so stubborn… I'm fairly certain Ava has a lot to do with it. You should go on, Harry"
"Yes, I better go see her or I'll be late. Have a nice day, Elliot"
"You as well"
Harry made his way to Chloe's room in a rush but slowed down when he reached her door. As silently as possible, he opened the door and went in. Her room was still entirely dark, as she liked, and he had to use his wand to cast lumos and find his way to her bed. She was almost entirely under the covers, strands of her blond hair over her pillow and one of her eyes and part of her forehead barely visible. He had the sudden urge to get under the covers with her.
"Chloe" He whispered as he sat down next to her "Chloe, wake up"
He found her shoulders and gently shook her; she groaned, moved a little but still didn't wake up. It took him a few more seconds of trying to lightly shake her until her eyes finally snapped opened.
"Harry? What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice cracking.
"I wanted to see you before I leave"
"What time is it?"
"Almost six"
"Harry James Potter, you are waking me up at six in the morning? On a Saturday? Someone better be dying!" She complained, pulling the covers over her face.
"Blimey Chloe" He said, amusedly.
From under the covers he heard her sigh, before she pushed the covers down and looked at him.
"Sorry… thanks for coming by"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever" He joked.
"No, really… thanks" She leaned over and kissed his cheek "And you can stop worrying, dinner tonight will be just fine"
"It better be"
"You are sending an auror with us and you sent Draco Malfoy an owl yesterday threatening to curse him if anything happened to me… I'm pretty sure they get it Harry"
"Don't forget your fake galleon, ok? And keep your wand at hand" He said, getting up and giving her a kiss.
"And I'll have the invisibility cloak inside the pocket of my regular cloak…. Remind me to thank Hermione again for the extension spell, its brilliant"
"I will. Stay safe love"
"You as well"
It was almost time for their guests to arrive. Lucius and Draco were standing by the fireplace in the dining room, while Narcissa was in the Kitchen overseeing the last few details for the night.
"Now, remember Draco, tonight is your chance to begin alluring Potter's girlfriend. The Master is counting you on"
"I know father" He replied, coldly. If only he knew.
"Don't mess this up son"
"I will not"
Lucius looked like he had more to say, but Narcissa came in and he wouldn't say something in front of her. Seconds after she joined us, the first few people arrived. Mr. Catburry, who was a very old man, flooed in with his wife and his first born, the man who would take over his place at the company by the end of the following year. A few minutes later, Mr. Lackn arrived, bringing with him his wife and twin little girls. Finally, several minutes after the others had arrived, the Lewis family arrived as well, accompanied by the auror.
Lucius, trying hard not to show his revulsion at the aurors presence, invited all the man to join him for Firewhisky and cigars in his study while Narcissa invited the women to the drawing room and Draco trailed along. The twin girls ran towards Chloe the moment she stepped out of the fireplace and were now both hanging to one of Chloe's hands as they walked down the hallway. Once they were all seated and drinks had been served, Draco approached Chloe.
"Miss. Lewis, would you like a tour of Malfoy Manor?"
"Umm, sure" She said, kissing each of the girls on the top of their heads before she stood up.
The girls protested audibly but their mother quieted them down. Next to Chloe, Willa stood up as well.
"You can stay here with them Ms. Bowsley, there is no need to follow us" Draco said.
"Harry asked me to remain with Chloe at all times Mr. Malfoy"
Draco rolled his eyes, but otherwise didn't object.
"We will be back in time to eat" He said to his mother, holding the door open for Chloe.
Contrary to what he had expected, Willa followed them a few steps behind, giving Chloe and Draco some space while still being close enough to act should an attack happen. Next to him, Chloe walked with an amused look on her face.
"I'm afraid you and I will not be able to speak as freely tonight" She said.
"As expected"
"I had hoped for a few minutes alone…. We need to talk about Blaise and his suspicions" She added, lowering her voice.
"If you want us to be alone, that can be arranged. There are many ways to lose someone around here"
"I would prefer we didn't do that; Willa might think something is wrong and it can only end badly"
"And here is the statue of my great, great, great grandfather. If you look closely, you can still see the scar from his encounter with a Dragon" Draco said, raising his voice and when Chloe leaned down to look at the statue, he got closer to her "Nothing much has been done since Blaise shared his concerns but father says he was put in charge of finding out if we do have a spy among us"
"Oh, I see it… looks really bad" Chloe said before lowering her voice "Brilliant, your father will never suspect you, right?"
"Right, he is too blind to ever believe I would betray him and whoever this Master is"
From the corner of his eye, Draco I could see Willa eying them suspiciously so he straightened up.
"If you follow me this way, the next room has a collection of Malfoy portraits"
Next to him, Chloe looked back at Willa and rolled her eyes, to which Willa replied with a smirk. Nice acting on her part.
"How was your interview with Ava?"
"Unpleasant. She wanted to know about the events of my sixth year, especially the night Dumbledore died and she was very…"
"Direct?"
"Indelicate is a better word"
"That's Ava"
"And running into your boyfriend on my way out did nothing to help my mood"
"You saw Harry?"
"He didn't tell you?"
"No" She said, frowning a little.
"There isn't much to tell, we exchanged short nods and I could feel his glare burning in my back until I closed the door on my way out"
"He would behave differently if he knew what you are doing…"
"We are still not telling him"
"I know"
After the portraits they walked past father's office and the sound of a thunderous laughter could be heard. Chloe giggled to herself.
"Mr. Lackn has such a strong laugh" She said.
"Do you know them well?"
"Yes, they are very close to each other. I haven't attended as many events lately as I used to though, neither of his associates have children my age, but I do love the twins"
"They seem to love you as well"
"They really do"
Chloe spent the remainder of the tour mainly in silence as Draco told her about the rooms and the history behind them. They arrived back in the dining room just as the elves were bringing out the food and the three of them sat down next to each other with Willa trying, but not succeeding, to sit between Chloe and Draco.
Throughout dinner, He spent most of his time engaging Chloe in conversations ranging anywhere from their years at Hogwarts to her relationship with Potter, the later not something she really wanted to discuss. From his spot at the head of the table, Lucius shot Draco several approving looks over the course of dinner and Draco snickered to himself. When the night was almost over and people began to leave, Willa stood up and headed for the fireplace, where she stayed patiently waiting for the Lewis to say their goodbyes.
"Go see your father on Monday, during your lunch break" He said to Chloe, leaning close to her. From her spot, Willa watched them attentively "My father has a meeting with him and I am accompanying him. But pretend you didn't know we would be there"
"May I ask why?"
"You will see"
"Okay"
"Chloe darling, are you ready to go?" Mr. Lewis said, approaching us "Goodbye Draco"
"Yes dad" Chloe said.
"Goodbye sir" Draco said, taking his hand.
Wille waited for the Elliot and Chloe to floo home first, before following them.
"Willa, thank you very much for accompanying us tonight. I'm terribly sorry you had to work on your day off" Elliot said.
"It was nothing, Mr. Lewis"
After Willa left, Chloe made her way up to her room and used the fake galleon to let Harry know she was fine, though she knew Willa would be reporting to him soon. She fell asleep easily, hoping to sleep in but that never happened.
"Chloe, wake up! WAKE UP"
She jumped, her blurry vision struggling to focus on the man sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Malfoy?" She said, pulling the covers all the way up so rapidly she knocked him down.
"Bloody hell Chloe" He said from the ground.
"I'm sorry, but that's what you get for waking me up like this" She replied, leaning over the edge to look at him.
"It so happens to be important" He said, sitting down again "Blaise's body was found less than two hours ago, with signs of torture"
"Excuse me?"
"The Ministry has his body, and father has gone in to his office with the pretense of having work to do so he can keep our side informed"
"Is that the only reason your father still has an office there? Both of you do own a successful business!"
"That is precisely why. But no mater, we have more important things to discuss"
They both froze as someone knocked on the door.
"Chloe?" Harry's voice came from the other side "Are you up?"
Malfoy and Chloe exchanged a look; he had an amused expression on his face while she was petrified.
"Um, yes Harry"
"May I come in?"
"Um, just a second!" She yelled back, then lowered her voice "Get up Malfoy, you have to leave!"
"I'm not leaving, we are not done"
"He cannot bloody see you!"
"Yes Ms. Obvious, I'm well aware. I'll be in your closet" He said winking at her and undoubtedly relishing in the situation. She glared at him until he was out of sight, and then told Harry to come in.
"What are you doing up so early love?" He said before giving her a kiss. She glanced over at where Draco was hiding.
"I… well I just got up to use the loo"
"Chloe, why are you blushing?"
"I am?"
"Yes, is everything ok?"
"Oh yes, all is fine. What are you doing here this early?"
"Blaise Zabinni's body was found not long ago, and after Ron worked on his wand we were able to confirm he was one of the people participating in the attack at Hogsmeade last weekend. We are going to bring his mother and close friends, like the Malfoys and Parkinsons, in for questioning in the hours to come and Evelyn has asked that you be there with her in case Obliviators are needed"
"Oh, yes of course. When should I be there?"
"Well, it's only six now so…. Perhaps nine?"
"I'll be there"
"I have to go in now, to assist Ron. I'll see you soon, ok?"
"Alright, I'll come and look for you when I arrive at the Ministry"
"Don't be late"
"I won't"
As soon as the door shut, Draco stepped out of her wardrobe with a large smirk on his face.
"Don't" She warned him, before he could even open his mouth "What are we going to do about this? Once your father drinks the Veritaserum it's all over. We need to go get your mother and take you to the Minister, so you can tell them what you have been doing"
"Are you mad? By now father will be already working on altering memories, Veritaserum will be of no use…."
"What about him? He cannot modify his own memory like that"
"I'm positive the Master will see to that"
"Draco, this is the chance Harry and the Ministry have been waiting for! We have got to do something"
"The Master is smarter than this Chloe; he will make sure nothing can be traced to him. We will have to wait until I know who he is, it's the only way"
"Bloody hell Malfoy! Harry is going to kill me if he ever finds out I knew about this whole thing, I cannot agree to this"
"Chloe, you came for me to help and you said you trusted me. I'm asking that you show me that trust now"
She grunted, bit her lips, and sat back down. This was not right, she couldn't keep something like this a secret, and this was crossing a line she was not comfortable with.
"Ok Malfoy, this is what will happen. If you don't have something by the end of next month, we are going to Harry with what we know, I can't do this anymore"
She watched him as he looked at the fire, in silent contemplation. Several minutes passed, in which she fidgeted impatiently, before he straightened up and looked back at her.
"Give me two months"
"And no more"
"We have a deal. I must go now, there will be much to do in the next couple of hours"
"Come see me tonight, we will need to talk"
"Until then, Ms. Lewis"
Chloe arrived at the Ministry a few hours later, around the time Harry had asked. Her father had not been very happy that she was getting involved but he didn't have much time to complain or argue due to his portkey to Ireland. She made her way to the aurors office and found it buzzing with activity and more crowded than she had ever seen it before.
"Hey Harry" She said, squeezing between Ron and Liam.
"Chloe, I can't really talk right now. Is there anything you need?"
"Just wanted to let you know I've arrived; I'll be down at my department unless Evelyn says otherwise. See you soon"
"Okay" He said, already turning back to Ron.
After being told by Evelyn to wait for her and another two newly hired Obliviators so they could all head to the interrogation room together, Chloe made my way to the loo. She had barely closed the door behind her when it opened again.
"Draco Malfoy" She yelled once she realized it was him "What in Merlin's name?"
"We have a problem" He said, sounding very serious.
"Bloody perfect" She said, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
Across from her, Draco took his wand out and locked the door so they wouldn't be disturbed.
"We don't have long Chloe, and I really need your help. Just a few minutes ago my father told me the Master is not going to erase all of his memory, because he wants me to find a way to keep my father from revealing something. He has taken care of anything that can seriously jeopardize their plans, and said it is another challenge to test my allegiance to his cause"
"This is just perfect! You father should be interrogated in half an hour!"
"Yes, thank you for pointing out the obvious. You seem to be doing that a lot this morning"
"Shut it" She warned, staring daggers at him.
"I will, just as long as you can use that Ravenclaw brain of yours and figure something out. We are wasting time arguing"
"Just… be quiet for a moment so I can thing, okay?"
He nodded solemnly and leaned against the door, watching her intensely. Chloe turned her back on him and closed her eyes, furiously going through several scenarios in her head. She could almost hear the ticking of the clock as time was running out and she began to panic. Then, out of nowhere, an idea hit and she turned to face Draco with a small grin on her face.
"Can you get us some polyjuice potion?"
"What?"
"Can you or not?"
"Yes, I'm sure I can steal some"
"Go get it, just enough to last us about ten minutes and then come meet me back here" She said, leaving the loo before he could say anything else.
Ten minutes later, Chloe made her way back to the loo and found Draco already there waiting for her. Pulling a single piece of her hair, she dropped it on the potion he was holding.
"Drink this, go back outside and meet me in the brook cupboard by the potions room in the aurors department, in five. Go there under the excuse to give Liam this" She said, handing him a file "I told Evelyn I would take it up there for her. And stay away from Harry, if you can"
"And what are you going to do?"
"Switch the Veritaserum that will be used on your father for water. Hurry up Malfoy, drink it"
"How will you keep from being seen?"
"Leave it to me"
He eyed her suspiciously, and then drank the potion. Using her wand, once his transformation was done, she transfigurated his clothes to match hers and told him to leave. It was very odd and momentarily disorienting seeing him as her, but she needed an alibi just in case and she was not about to trust Draco with Harry's invisibility cloak. As soon as he was gone, she pulled the invisibility cloak from inside her cloaks' pocket and covered herself with it. She made her way to the aurors office in a hurry, and with great difficulty made it inside the potions room without being detected. Taking off the cloak, she found the Veritaserum vials and reached for the one named for Lucius, placing the fake one back in its place. She waited for just a few more minutes before heading to the cupboard and soon after the door opened again and Malfoy came in, still looking like her.
"It's done" Chloe said "Give me a couple of minutes and then leave. Stay hidden somewhere until the potion wears off and then head down, you are scheduled to be interrogated right after your father."
"Chloe… thank you"
"I came to you for help; we are in this together Malfoy"
"I know…. One more thing"
"What?"
"You need to erase my memories of us"
"Oh… I… suppose you are right. I'll do it once we get downstairs"
He nodded and she checked to see if it was safe to leave. Soon after, she ran into Harry and made her way down with him. She was not asked to sit through Lucius interrogation, but judging by the look of frustration in Ron and Harry's faces when they were done, Chloe knew things had gone exactly like Draco and her had hoped for.
"Chloe" Evelyn said, exiting the room after the boys "I need you to sit through Mr. Draco Malfoy's interrogation. I have to help with Zabinni's mother and I don't trust the new hires to handle things unsupervised yet"
"Of course, you need not worry"
"I'm certain of that" She said "I expect a detailed report on my desk by the end of the day"
"You got it"
"Chloe" Harry said "We are ready"
She nodded just as Draco made his way around the corner, guided by Landon. As he walked past her, she held her wand against the side of her leg and casted a wordless Obliviate spell. Draco stopped, his eyes glossing over for a minute. Then he shook his head as if trying to clear it and walked into the room, Harry and Chloe following right behind. As expected, the Veritaserum did nothing to Draco as his memories of anything suspicious had been erased. Just as Harry stood up and told Draco to leave, Chloe undid the memory charm. Draco looked over at her then, and gave her one of his largest smirks. Next to him, Harry was looking furious.
"What was that about?" Harry asked, the moment they were alone in the room.
"You should have asked him" Chloe replied matter of factly "I wasn't the one smirking"
"Bloody Malfoy, I was certain he knew something… Blaise was his best friend"
"Well, maybe they haven't been very good friends since Malfoy's mother betrayed the dark lord Harry…. You are overthinking this"
"Am I? Chloe this makes no sense, Blaise was not alone that night! I was so certain Malfoy would lead us to something"
Chloe could literally feel her heart shatter as she watched Harry pace around, looking defeated. Draco owed her big time for letting his family off on this one, and he would have to deliver something amazing to make up for this.
"I'm sorry Harry" She said, standing up and stopping in front of him. He looked away "Harry, please don't be like that, we will figure this out"
"I'm starting to think that we won't"
"You listen to me Harry Potter, whoever the people behind all this are, they have nothing on Voldemort"
At the sound of the Dark Lord's name, he looked up. He had never heard Chloe call the Dark Lord by his actual name.
"You defeated You Know Who, you can handle this"
"I know, you are right"
"As always"
"Is that so?" He asked.
"Absolutely. I have to go write a report, see you for dinner?"
"My house, at seven" He said, kissing her forehead.
Draco left the interrogation room and headed for his father's office at the Ministry. He didn't bother to knock, sitting down across from his father with an conceited beam.
"It seems that I underestimated you Draco, you actually did it"
"You doubted me?"
"You had very little warning"
"Clearly enough time"
"I see that now. Will you tell me how you did it? Switched the Veritaserum for water?"
"I believe I'll keep that to myself"
"The Master will be very pleased son; I'm on my way to meet him now. Go home, you mother is waiting for you there"
Draco did as he was told, though he wished he could have gone to see Chole. Lucius was gone for almost two hours and, upon his arrival at the Manor, asked to see Draco in the drawing room.
"The Master has called for a sudden meeting, at the Parkinson's, and you are to attend it as well. The two of us had a long conversation and he has chosen to make a very bold move, sooner than he had planned. We are leaving now" Lucius said, standing up.
Draco did not like where this was going, he had a bad feeling about this meeting but he went to his room to retrieve his garment, as told. After they had changed into their robes and masks, Lucius grabbed a handful of floo powder and Draco did the same, waiting for his father to floo first. The moment he arrived at the Parkinson's Manor, he knew something important was about to happen, the knot in his stomach growing tighter. There was an unusual tension in the air and the place appeared eerier than usual. Continuing to make his way towards the drawing room after his father, Draco kept a discreet yet tight grip on his wand, halfway expecting someone to attack him as he walked down the hallway.
His suspicions were confirmed when he stepped in. On both sides of the room, a slightly larger crowd than what usually was present when he had attended the meetings was facing him and at the other end of the room, directly across from him, was someone he hadn't met. He assumed, based on the man's position and different mask, that he could only be one person: he who they called Master. Lucius quickly made his way to the man's side.
"Welcome Draco" The man said, and Draco felt the hair on the back of his neck stand "I have heard a lot about you"
Unsure of what to say, he continued to walk until he reached the center of the room.
"You were summoned here today, because of three things. You have shown an interest in joining us, you have successfully completed your assignments and, as you know by now, because your father is my most trusted servant. I had considered, until recently, to entrust the man who has effectively infiltrated Potter's group months ago a very important assignment, but your father has been pleading your case with me and I have decided to trust his judgment and give you a chance to truly prove yourself to me. If you carry on what I will entrust you, you and your father will be accordingly rewarded. What say you, Draco Malfoy?"
"It will be an honor to serve you, Master" He lied, heart pounding almost painfully.
"It will indeed. This is very important Draco and you must not fail for the consequences may well be devastating to my plan"
"I understand"
"Very well then. All of the people present here tonight are allies Draco. Some of which you have already met, while others remain unrevealed to you. Once you are done, you will know us all and I will use you to carry on many more assignments. You will be held accountable to all present Draco, that is why we are meeting as such. But fear not, you and I will get to know each other well soon enough. Now, are you ready to hear your assignment?"
"Yes Master"
"Your assignment Draco Malfoy… is to kill Chloe Lewis"