I'm back! I know it's been a year, but my life has been super busy. However, I could never abandon or forget this story which is why, I'm back at it with another chapter! I hope you like this one and I am again so sorry for the wait. I will not give any promises on when the next chapter will be uploaded, but I will try my best to get it up here very soon. Again, thank you all for your patience and I sincerely hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

Chapter 31

It felt like hours on end as she sat silently in that dimly lit drawing room, her hands shuffling together nervously as she waited for him to arrive. Her perfectly coiffed hair and designer robes could only do so much to her demeanor, especially when her face was clouded with fear and dread. Her hands shivered as she attempted to lift a cup of tea to her lips, only to have the old and faded French doors open, and him come in. His robes bellowed him as he approached her and sat opposite her.

"How is your progress on the mission Miss Greengrass?" Lucius Malfoy asked, without any introduction, while pouring himself a glass of firewhiskey.

She swallowed heavily and responded "Very well Mr. Malfoy. I have managed to get closer to the Black heir and earned myself an invitation to the Blacks' annual New Year's ball."

"Fantastic Miss Greengrass! And did finalize your apparition lessons with Rowle?" Lucius asked, his eyes hungry with excitement.

"I have, I shall have Lord Black here on New Year's, as planned. There is a small forest by the manor that is not warded, from which I can apparate after I lead him there." She looked down and then asked nervously "If I may, what does the Dark Lord plan to do with him?"

Lucius glared at the girl as he answered sinisterly "Don't tell me you have grown to care for that brat. Have you forgotten what is at stake if you fail to deliver him to us? Your pathetic excuse for a father and your darling little sister will- "

"I understand sir, please! I will not fail, I promise, I will not fail!" She was shivering, tears threatening to fall. She composed herself quickly and almost whispered "He will be here, you have my word."

"Good."

"I can't stop thinking about her, and I don't know what to do" Orion said as he stared into the crackling fire of the fireplace.

Draco looked at Orion with concern "Are you sure she's not a distraction?"

The dark-haired wizard sighed and ran his fingers through his locks "She's the girl from my dreams, I saw her more clearly the other night. I just can't shake the feeling of guilt and resentment I have towards myself for betraying Susan's love."

The blonde's eyes widened as he remembered his previous conversation with Hermione. Could it be that Orion's dreams are actually visions, or rather a way for Voldemort to manipulate him? Since the night in the graveyard, it became undeniable that his best friend and most trusted confidante has an inexplicable and peculiar link to Voldemort. Hence, the fact that Daphne Greengrass was the subject of his blood brother's disturbing nightly visitor, it spiked suspicion of the girl. He knew for sure that he now urgently needed to relay that piece of information to his girlfriend, so they could figure out what course of action must come next-

"Dray are you even listening to me?" Orion waved his hand in front of the blonde's face to get his attention.

"I'm sorry Ori, what were you saying?" Draco's mind was still elsewhere as his kin rambled on about his unfortunate infatuation with the Greengrass girl, and as he thought of it more and more, his concern only grew exponentially.

"Hermione! Hermione open up!"

"Alright, alright!" The wavy-haired girl opened the door to her suite at the manor with a huff. "What is it that made you almost want to almost blast my door to smithereens?"

Draco just dragged her in and shut the door behind him "Hermione, I'm afraid your reservations against Daphne Greengrass might just have some merit to them."

The brunette's eyes widened at this "I knew it! I knew this girl was no good, what did she do? What did you find out?"

Draco sighed and sat them down at the edge of her canopy bed "She's the girl he's been seeing in his nightmares almost every night! He just told me so! He seems to think it's just because she's the subject of his infatuation, but I think there's more to it. I recently overheard my grandfather discussing with Uncle Sirius the issue of Hermes Greengrass' debts and illness, as well as his possible entanglement with Voldemort and his death eaters. I didn't think much of it at the time and didn't want to be prejudiced against the girl for the sins of her father, considering the situation between my bastard of a father and I. However, I am now starting to believe that she might be involved with Voldemort herself."

Hermione frowned as she listened intently to what her boyfriend just told her and thought through it all word by word "We need to keep an eye on her at all times Draco. We can't have Ori fall into the hands of that monster again!"

"He won't, worry not love." He caressed her hand and gave it a kiss "I however need you to stay close to her during the New Year's ball, keep her busy, don't let her be alone with him without supervision. I will do the same with Orion, and if needs be, we will follow them around all night."

Hermione nodded in agreement "Of course. Do you think we should inform anyone else of our recent discovery?"

He shook his head in disagreement "The less people know, the better. We don't want to cause panic, especially not to Aunt Hestia, the woman already takes too many sleeping draughts as it is."

"But Draco, we might need help. The manor is huge, and they might be out of our sight in seconds! I think we should inform Neville and Ginny at least, they surely will be able to help."

Draco thought this through and then hesitantly agreed to let his childhood friend and his girlfriend on Hermione and his plan. "I'll floo Neville right now and ask him to come through for a few minutes so I can explain everything. We are living at dangerous times and owls might be intercepted. You do the same with Ginny."

The night of the ball arrived with a fresh wave of snow covering the grounds of the marvelous Hampshire manor. Guests arrived in turns and soon enough the ballroom was bustling. Narcissa Black was making sure everything was done right and house elves had things under control, while the Duke and Duchess were greeting the newcomers. Lady Walburga Black and the Malfoy patriarch were having a pleasant conversation while the rest of the Black family were seated and sipping champagne and fire-whiskey. Cassiopeia Black was deep in discussion with Druella Rosier Black, Narcissa's mother, who had just come back to England after spending most of the recent years in Transylvania. Sirius's grandmother Melania was recounting to her granddaughter Andromeda and her daughter Nymphadora how extravagant balls were thrown each year in the Blacks' French chateau, reminiscent of her youth with the late Arcturus Black. Next to them were Ted Tonks and Remus Lupin, chatting vividly about their Hogwarts days.

Hermione Granger was holding on to Draco Malfoy's arm very tightly, while biting her own lip as she stared at the black-haired beauty that was laughing at something Lord Black had just said. Ginevra and Neville suddenly came up behind the blonde and brunette couple.

"Hermione stop worrying so much, everything will be okay." Ginny rubbed her friend's back with concern as Neville grabbed his best friend's shoulder and took him aside "With the four of us watching them all night, I doubt they'll be able to escape us. Lighten up mate, it's a party after all!"

Draco rubbed his face with frustration "How can you be so calm Neville! What if the bint manages to take him away? I won't forgive myself if anything happens to him." His friend then grabbed his shoulders and told him sternly "Nothing will happen to Orion, we will make sure of it!" The music then started and the Duke and Duchess started waltzing at the middle of the dancefloor "Dance with your girlfriend and pretend everything is normal, the four of us will surround them as soon as she takes him to the floor."

Draco nodded and took Hermione's hand as he led her to dance. Neville and Ginny followed suit as Daphne and Orion did so as well. Ron and Luna were laughing blissfully as they glided happily around the floor, unaware of their friends' concern.

After a few dances dinner was served, and everyone took their respectful seats to enjoy the feast. Daphne and Orion were almost unaware of anyone else's presence as they only had eyes for one another. The rest of the Hogwarts gang were laughing at something Luna had said, but only Ron was solely focused on the girl while the others constantly stole glances at the dreaded couple at the table. Unknown to them, Daphne had noticed their stares and took Orion for another dance to earn some privacy.

"Orion, I have an idea that could make this night very memorable." The girl purred into his ear as they swayed together.

The Black heir's interest perked up at her words "What do you have in mind Daphne?"

She smiled seductively and leaned in to whisper in his ear again "Let's just say it involves much more privacy. Follow me in about 10 minutes into that quaint little forest next to your family's grounds. I suspect no one will be whispering or glancing at us there."

Oblivious to her nefarious schemes, Orion nodded and let her go. Her emerald green dress twirled as she turned around to leave the ballroom.

Hermione noticed the change in events and poked Ginny to get her attention "She's leaving to Merlin knows where! I must follow her. Tell Draco to follow me right now! But do so discretely, we don't want to raise any suspicion. You and Neville stay here and keep an eye on Orion, make sure he doesn't leave this room."

The redhead nodded and told Draco to follow Hermione immediately after the brunette scurried after Daphne without being spotted by the latter. As soon as her boyfriend reached her, the grabbed Orion's invisibility cloak that Draco had stolen from his cousin's trunk and had previously shrunk into his pocket. As they put the cloak around them, they followed the girl unobtrusively into the forest. Meanwhile, Orion had attempted to go after his love interest as planned but was interrupted by Ginny who insisted on dancing with him. After a short dance, she insisted on one more, but when Orion excused himself to go to the bathroom, Neville said he needed to go as well and forced the frustrated black-haired wizard to go through with his lie.

On the other hand, as Daphne walked into the forest, Draco and Hermione stopped at the entrance as the brunette whispered to her boyfriend "I know what we must do. If she kept waiting alone for Orion for too long, she will grow doubtful and go back to the ballroom and attempt to lure him again. Let us wait for five minutes and then I'll stay here under the cloak and you follow her in. At the sound of your footsteps, and with the darkness of the night as our ally, she will mistake you for Orion and will do what she wishes to do. I'll follow you in undercover discreetly and will have my wand at the ready if she tries anything."

Draco nodded and then entered the forest after a few minutes, with an invisible Hermione following suit. As he reached the witch, the latter noticed his arrival and closed her eyes as she turned around to face him and said to him in a shaken voice "Orion, I'm so sorry for what I'm about to do" as she branded her wand to disarm him. At that, everything happened in slow motion for Hermione, as she was quicker and stupefied the witch who was in the middle of saying "Expeliarmus". Draco then drabbed Daphne before she fell to the floor and carried her into his arms. Hermione then rushed to them and she did the first thing she thought of. She removed the girl's long-sleeved glove and gasped at what was unveiled, the final confirmation to their thoughts: the dark mark.

That's it for this one! I really hope you liked it, and PLEASEEEE review! I haven't heard from you in a very long while and I want to know what you think of the story so far, so please share your thoughts and ideas with me, and I promise to take them into consideration.

So again, i beg of you, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEWWW!

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xoxo

Cleo26