Written in the Stars | A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter Sixteen - Draco

The owl flies into my room early in the morning. We Apparated out of the campsite after the chaos was over. The owl holds my subscription to The Daily Prophet.

Opening it, I read the headline: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP. It's complete with a twinkling, black and white photograph of the Dark Mark over the tree-tops. I scan the article. "Ministry blunders...culprits not apprehended...lax security. Dark wizards running unchecked...national disgrace..."

I continue reading till the bottom of the article. "If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the wood expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed. A Ministry official emerged sometime after the appearance of the Dark Mark, alleging that nobody had been hurt, but refusing to give any more information. Whether this statement will be enough to quash the rumours that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen." I stop reading.

Several bodies. Allison was in the forest. Probably near where the Dark Mark was. No, she's probably fine, I tell myself, they're just rumours, after all.

***

"Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore - the man's such a Mudblood-lover - and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riff-raff. But mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defence stuff we do. If we don't know what we're trying to protect ourselves against, how are we supposed to do it properly?" I say to my friends when we're on the Hogwarts Express.

Later on in the day, I make my usual trip to Potter's compartment. "We saw him right up close, as well," says Weasley. "We were in the Top Box -"

"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley," I interject.

The three of them, Potter, Weasley, and Granger, turn to look at me. "Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," says Potter coolly. I ignore him.

"Weasley...what is that?" I ask, pointing to an owl's cage where something made of mouldy lace is dangling. He moves to stuff it out of sight, but I'm too quick. I seize it and pull.

"Look at this!" I exclaim in ecstasy, holding up what appears to be very old and worn dress robes. I show them to Crabbe and Goyle. "Weasley, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean - they were very fashionable in about 1980..."

"Eat dung, Malfoy!" says Weasley. His face is now the same colour as the dress robes. He snatches them back out of my grip and stuffs them out of view. I howl with derisive laughter.

"So...going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, you know...you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won..."

"What are you talking about?" Weasley snaps. "Are you going to enter?" I repeat. "I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you?" I ask, disdain dripping from my voice.

"Either explain what you're on about or go away, Malfoy," Granger says testily over the top of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Four.

A gleeful smile spreads across my face. "Don't tell me you don't know?" I ask delightedly. "You've got a father and a brother at the Ministry and you don't even know? My God, my father told me about it ages ago...heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry...maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley...yes...they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him..."