Lazuli - Harry Potter Fan Fiction (Draco Malfoy)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

"When did this happen?" I croak, wiping a tear that crept out of my eye unannounced. Harry steps away and takes a glass of pumpkin juice that Hermione's holding out to him. "Last night, a group of ten broke out. All guilty Death-Eaters." Fred informs me.

I read the article. Apparently the breakout occurred at 8pm last night. That means there was plenty of time for Lucius Malfoy to meet his fellow death-eaters, tell them about me and threat I posed, and for one of them to get angry and decide to murder me. Millicent wasn't killed until 12am. 4 hours to plan and break into Hogwarts, notoriously the safest place in the wizarding world. It was impossible, wasn't it?

Unless somebody already knew how to get in.

A part that I find particularly shocking is the name of one of the escapees. Bellatrix Lestrange. The newspaper article stated that she was Sirius's cousin, but I ignored that.

Bellatrix Lestrange was the name of Draco's aunt, a convicted death-eater. He hadn't told me this himself, but I'd done my fair amount of research. Could it be possible that it was her who'd tried to kill me?

It seemed highly likely.

I curl my fists in anger and throw the paper to the floor. "Bellatrix Lestrange is Sirius's cousin, and Draco's aunt." I hiss. This woman was going to pay for what she'd done to Millicent. Ginny offers me some pumpkin juice. Hermione watches my face intently and nods slowly. "You think it was her, don't you?"

I shrug my shoulders and pass up the pumpkin juice. I'm shaking with rage, a new emotion in the million that I've felt in the past 24 hours. But now that I think about it, I am angry. I'm furious, that someone could be cruel, so vile as to end Millicent's life. Whilst they hadn't done it intentionally (they'd actually been aiming for me) they'd still murdered one of my friends. Somebody I liked. I realise at that moment that murdering someone I like doesn't put you in a good position with me. In fact, you should be very scared.

"Who else would it be? She probably ran to Lucius and Narcissa, asked how Draco was, and when they told her about me, she got angry and came to kill me." I stare into the fire as my siblings, Harry and Hermione exchange worried glances. It's only Luna who seems unfazed by the whole thing, staring into space, as dreamily as ever. I wish that I could be like her, able to distance myself so easily and not care what anybody else thought about it.

"Sounds pretty likely to me" Ron comments in-between bites of a sausage roll. I roll my eyes and take a seat between Luna and Hermione. "What is all this anyway? I thought it was a DA meeting."

Harry sits down too, nibbling on a pastry. "We thought that it would be nice to have a little picnic. Seeing as we couldn't leave the castle, and you and Luna aren't not allowed in the Gryffindor Common Room, we thought that this was the best place." Hermione trills enthusiastically.

"Why?" I ask, perhaps a little rudely, but oh well. Hermione's eyes grow wide with surprise. "Well, we thought..." she tries to add. "No, you thought that since I nearly died, you'd all start making an effort, no offence Luna." I smile apologetically at the dream-like girl who doesn't seem to be listening at all.

"Fine, yes, that is the reason." George declares angrily. "George..." Ginny mutters, placing a hand on his arm, but he just snatches it away. "No. It's the truth. You nearly died, Millicent did. And we're all really sorry about that. We've realised how stupid we've been and want to make it up to you, if that's alright." He frowned at me and for the first time, I notice how much he and Fred look like our father.

"Oh." I mutter, now taking the pumpkin juice from Ginny. I sip awkwardly at it. "So how is everyone?" Ginny asks carefully, smiling at me. I shrug my shoulders. "Some people are ok, others are traumatised. It's going to take a long time for everything to return to normal." I twirl the end of my ponytail around my fingers and force a weak smile. "But most of the people in Slytherin are too proud to admit that it upset them, so they're keeping to themselves. I've hardly seen anyone all day."