It was a week into the school term and so far Draco was thoroughly enjoying his fifth year at Hogwarts. Since starting school he'd enjoyed a good standing within Slytherin, and this year his importance had rocketed and he was now one of the top dogs down in the dungeons.

As a pureblood from an influential, rich family, Draco had immediately been someone to look out for upon his arrival at Hogwarts. For four years he'd enjoyed the deference that came his way from his housemates, just because he happened to be a Malfoy. This year however things had changed somewhat and within the purebloods the Malfoy name was even more important.

Almost everyone in Slytherin either had a family member associated with the Death Eaters or knew someone who was part of the group. As such the whole house knew that not only was Voldemort back, but he was holding meetings at Malfoy Manor and Lucius was his right hand man. Draco effortlessly took advantage of his father's position at Voldemort's side to gain more importance within the Slytherins and when he happened to mention he'd actually met Voldemort and shook his hand, his popularity skyrocketed even further.

While Draco basked in his new higher position within the Slytherins, he also had a few more reasons why he was enjoying fifth year so much. Firstly he was now a prefect, meaning he could throw his weight around outside of the dungeons. Potter was the first person he intended to target and over the course of the year he was going to make sure Dumbledore's golden boy lost his house plenty of points. Unfortunately Potter's best friends, Granger and Weasley, were also prefects, meaning they were immune to his position and he couldn't do anything to them. As unfortunate as that was Draco wasn't overly concerned, he would just have to find other friends of Potter's to take it out on.

The second thing that brightened up Draco's year was surprisingly the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. Professor Umbridge was actually quite annoying and Draco didn't actually like her all that much. What he did like was what she stood for and the reason she was at Hogwarts. Her speech at the welcoming feast had been extremely revealing and it was obvious that anyone who listened closely, like Draco did, that Umbridge was at Hogwarts to watch Dumbledore. A letter from Lucius that morning had just confirmed Draco's theory as his father told him to keep on Umbridge's good side and help her in whatever way he saw fit. Draco suspected that Lucius knew more than he was letting on regarding Umbridge and he hoped her presence at the school would spell the end of Dumbledore's reign as Headmaster.

The third and final reason Draco was enjoying the year was a purely personal one, his growing sexual experience. Draco was involved with Pansy, and while he certainly had no intention of getting serious with her he was more than happy to have his fun with her. While Pansy had made it clear she was up for anything Draco wanted to do he knew he would have to take things slowly with her. Pansy was a notorious gossip and he didn't want her spreading any rumours he was bad in bed, he wanted her telling everyone he was great.

Draco was so lost in thoughts about his good year, he failed to hear the door open and someone enter the dorm room. It wasn't until Theo Nott stepped in front of him that Draco realised he wasn't alone.

"Blaise and I are going for a fly." Theo said. "Do you want to come?"

"Sure." Draco nodded. "Let me grab my broom."

Draco knew that Theo most likely wanted to go for a fly as Quidditch try-out were taking place the following week and he was desperate to get on the team. He had hoped to get on the team the previous year but with The Triwizard Tournament being held there had been no Quidditch and Theo was left disappointed.

"Draco, can I ask you something?" Theo asked hesitantly as Draco grabbed his broom.

"Yeah." Draco replied, turning around to face his friend.

"Have you really met The Dark Lord?"

Draco was surprised that Theo was doubting him, but he decided not to ask him why he didn't believe him. "Yes, I've told you. His meetings are held at the Manor and I've met him in person."

"Was he alone?" Theo asked.

"Yes." Draco lied, wondering why Theo was suddenly asking about Voldemort.

"So his daughter wasn't with him?" Theo questioned, watching Draco closely for his reaction.

Draco was aware of Theo's scrutiny, but luckily his normal mask of indifference hid his shock. "Daughter?" He frowned, looking puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

Theo smirked widely as he realised that for once he knew something Draco didn't. While Draco was his friend and he honestly liked him, sometimes he could be an infuriating smug git, constantly bragging about something or other. For the past week Theo had been totally sick of Draco getting all the attention, just because he happened to have met The Dark Lord personally.

"Do you really not know?" Theo questioned, his smirk growing wider by the second.

"Know what?" Draco snapped. "What are you talking about Theo?"

"The Dark Lord has a daughter." Theo whispered, even though they were the only two in the room. "She attends meetings with him and apparently she practically runs things alongside The Dark Lord."

"Who told you that?" Draco asked.

"No-one." Theo shrugged. "I overheard my parents talking."

"I know nothing about a daughter." Draco shrugged. "I've never seen her at the Manor."

"Maybe he's keeping her a secret and only allowing his followers to know about her." Theo suggested.

"Maybe." Draco replied. He knew Theo was trying to goad him by telling him something he supposedly didn't know but he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of rising to the bait. "Now are we going for a fly or not?"

Theo nodded and grabbed his and Blaise's broom before the two teenagers left the room. As he headed out to the Quidditch pitch, Draco was faced with a dilemma regarding what Theo had told him. Theo was his friend and he didn't want to get him into trouble but he knew stuff about The Dark Lord he shouldn't know. Draco and Narcissa only knew about Voldemort's daughter because he trusted Lucius, but Draco knew for a fact that the rest of his Death Eaters had been sworn to secrecy.

"Come on, Draco." Blaise Zabini called, dragging Draco out of his thoughts. "Get up here."

Pushing aside the dilemma he faced, Draco mounted his broom and flew into the sky to meet his friends. He would worry about what to do about Theo later, for now he would just enjoy his weekend with his friends.

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After sleeping on it for the night Draco decided he needed to inform Voldemort that his secret was out. As much as Theo was his friend, his loyalties had to lie with the wizard he one day hoped to serve. Hopefully by telling Voldemort about Theo, he could prevent more people finding out about his daughter and prove how useful he could be.

Draco decided the easiest way of informing Voldemort was passing the message along to his father. After writing a letter to Lucius, explaining about his conversation with Theo and asking his father to try and ensure Theo himself wasn't punished, Draco set off for the owlrey.

When he arrived at the owlrey he was unimpressed to find Hermione Granger attaching a letter to a school owl. Blatantly ignoring the mudblood, Draco called for his own eagle owl. After attaching the letter to his owl's foot, he gave it a few strokes before walking over to the window and letting it fly away. When he turned back around he found Hermione was still in the owlrey, watching him as she fussed over the owl perched on her arm.

"What are you looking at mudblood?" Draco sneered.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Draco, before pushing past him and releasing her own bird. As he left the owlrey Draco chuckled to himself as he heard Hermione call him a git under her breath, it was so nice to make the right impression on some people.

After leaving the owlrey Draco felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He knew he'd done the right thing in writing to his father. All he could do now was hope that Theo didn't get unfairly punished, after all the only thing he'd done was pass on something he'd heard. If anyone needed to be punished it should be Theo's father.

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Voldemort was sitting in his study, when Kathleen entered and announced that Lucius was here to see him. The previous week after Hermione had gone back to school Voldemort had invited Lucius and Narcissa over to dinner and introduced them to Kathleen. The couple had decided that they trusted the Malfoy's and it would be easier if they knew who Voldemort was married to. They had also told Narcissa who Hermione was, but had made her promise to keep it a secret, even from Draco. Voldemort had decided he trusted Draco, but with him and Hermione going to school together he didn't want to risk either of them revealing her true identity if they became friendly.

Voldemort was puzzled over Lucius' sudden appearance and when the blond man entered his study with a serious expression he began to get worried. Since his return to full power everything had ran smoothly and they were currently working on a plan of attack to release those in Azkaban, so a worried Lucius showing up was cause for alarm.

"What's the problem?" Voldemort asked, getting straight to the point.

"Read this." Lucius handed Voldemort a letter and sat down to wait until he had finished reading.

Voldemort read the letter from Draco with a mixture of feelings. Firstly he was immensely impressed with Draco and his loyalty to him, not to mention the concern he had shown about his friend being punished. Secondly, he was fuming that Nott had gone against his explicit instructions and spoken about Hermione.

"I appreciate you bringing this to my attention." Voldemort told Lucius as he handed the letter back to him. "And I appreciate Draco's loyalties, which won't be forgotten. You can let him know how happy I am with him."

"Yes, My Lord." Lucius nodded, feeling immensely proud of his son. "What are you going to do about Nott?"

"Obviously he needs to be punished, but I do appreciate Draco's point about his son not deserving any comeback on him." Voldemort answered. "What I need to do is find a way to discover Nott had told his wife about Hermione without compromising Draco or Nott Jr."

"May I suggest you just pay her a visit. Nott's wife is one of the worst liars I've ever come across. She'll either crack under questioning or a bit of basic probing of her memories will probably tell you what you want to know."

Voldemort smiled at Lucius's idea, it could work perfectly. All he had to do was claim to be there to see Nott and when he spoke to his wife she revealed she knew about his daughter. That way Nott would be punished, and no-one need ever know Draco was his original source of information.

"Thank you Lucius, that information will be most helpful."

"Anything to help, My Lord." Lucius replied. "Is there anything else you need, while I'm here?"

"I don't think so." Voldemort said. "I'll be in touch when I've spoken to Nott's wife and we can arrange a meeting to deal with Nott himself."

"Will it be a private meeting?" Lucius asked as he stood up.

"I think not." Voldemort smirked. "Nott needs to be made an example of, his punishment will be dished up in front of everyone. People need to learn not to gossip about my daughter."