Another Malfoy!?

Chapter 20 - The Letter

~ A Few Days Earlier~

~At a Death Eater Meeting~

A dead muggle lay on the long table and tall chairs took up the majority of the room. The palatial room, which resembled more of a large hall, and was dimly lit by a single fireplace, dark walls gave the room a menacing and sinister feel. It lacked windows, so no daylight came through. Sumptuously decorated, one could think that it was a place of danger, they'd most definitely be correct.

The usual furniture one would see in a common house was pushed against the walls. Normally this would be the drawing room of Malfoy Manor. People sat in the chairs lining the table, dressed in black. A pale, blad, and noseless man sat at the head of the table. His features are almost snake-like. Definitely the leader of these mysterious figures.

"Lucius," the man finally spoke.

"Yes, My Lord?" a pale man spoke back, his hair long and white. His eyes were a dull grey.

"how are the children doing?"

"Brilliant, sir. After Draco found out this summer, we started his training immediately after."

"And the girl?"

"We plan on starting her training this coming summer."

"However we plan to tell her about... this... when she's Draco's age."  but the man's wife; a pale woman with a tint of blue to her eyes. A much kinder version of her husband indeed.

"Perfect." announced the noiseless leader. "I want both children to have the Dark Mark in less than 3 years."

Narcissa, the woman from earlier, tensed at this thought.

"Bellatrix!" he boomed. "Train the young Malfoy girl in the dark arts."

The wild-haired female smiled savagely, before replying. "Yes, My Lord!"

"Soon, Muggles shall be rid of this earth and I shall conquer both wizard and muggle worlds!"  The menacing man's cackle echoed through the hall. "Now go, prepare as you must."

"Yes, My Lord." the cloaked members said in unison. Some, apparated out of the room and  others left through the large door.

Narcissa, however, stayed back, seemingly deep in thought.

Lucius took her hand in his. "This is for the best..."

Harry's POV

"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione, pleadingly. "Come on, you've been laying on the couch since lunch!"

"It's not my fault!" I barked back. "There's nothing to do without her around!"

"Hey!" shouted Ron who, supposedly, had been focusing on an assignment Mione had forced him to do, earlier. "I'm fun!"

"I think you can go two weeks without your little crush, Harry. I mean, you went your whole life without knowing Lucy." The bushy-haired girl set down the book she was reading on the coffee table and sat in a velvet chair, looking at me with a you're overreacting face.

"Okay, first of all, Mione, I don't have a crush on her, she's like a little sister to me. Like Ginny. Second, I didn't know how much fun and exciting life could be until I met her. It's exciting to see her smile at me in the halls everyday, even if we can't talk."

"Sounds like a crush to me, mate." laughed Ron

"Blimey, you two and your assumptions."

The two burst into a fit of laughter. A few seconds after they calmed down I was able to change the subject. We were now talking about Mrs. Weasley's sweaters she'd make for each of us this year. Ron was telling us the colours he hoped his sweater would be, when a faint tapping, followed by a flapping sound came at the window. "Spooky..." muttered Ron.

I nodded agreeingly.

Mione sighed, using an embarrassed tone when she spoke, "It's an owl, boys!" she pointed, drawing out attention to the whites of the animals eyes and its white body, both standing out against the black night sky.

She stood up walking over to the tall window and gently opening, just enough so that the owl could get in and snow couldn't. It perched itself on the arm of the couch.

"It's got a letter!" Ron pointed out.

"It's too late for mail, Ronald."

"See for yourself, you lunatic."

Hermione walked over to the owl to see that there was indeed a letter in its talons. "I guess Ron was right..." she admitted, dejectedly. "Hey, it's from Lucy!"

Everyone (including me) seemed to look at one another excitedly. "It's for you, Harry."  said Ron, who had stood up and looked over Mione's shoulder.

I almost jumped up and ran over to my friend's sides. Ron wasted no time handing me the letter. It was indeed from Lucy and had a little ink heart just above her name. I opened it, reading the words more carefully than I would when studying for end of term tests.

"Well?" asked Ron. "Are you going to tell us what it says? Or just keep grinning like an idiot at a piece of parchment?"

Mione chuckled agreeingly.

"Well, Ron." I started. "Lucy said that while she's gone, we can borrow her broom to practise quidditch... if you ever want to join the team, that is."

"Do I have to want to play? I get to fly on a Nimbus 2001!"

"Anything on me in there?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, she said Snape has a pass to the Slytherin common room library." me and Ron exchanged a 'that's not much' kind of look.

Mione, however, seemed overjoyed at this. "Really? I heard that they have loads of books that aren't in the common library. And-"

"That's great and all, Mione. However I get to ride a Nimbus 2001! How brilliant is that?"

Hermione just rolled her big brown eyes and looked back at me. "Anything else, Harry?"

"She told me that her father is already furious and she hasn't been able to speak about Buckbeak." A disappointed look washed over my friend's face. "And she'll write to us at least every week."

"Well, that's good, isn't it, Mione?" asked Ron as he stuffed a biscuit into his mouth.

"You're unbelievable."

"Guys, I'm gonna write back to her, right now."

"In the morning," said Hemione, "you and Ron have assignments to catch up on.

"How many more? My fingers are raw, Hermione, raw!"

"You have a fair few left, Ronald. Maybe you should've thought about that before you went to Hogsmeade every other day."

Ron let out an exasperated sigh.

"So much for 'Happy Holidays', Ron." I teased. "Have fun spending Christmas with the company of school assignments."

"Oh shut up." he said, tossing a pillow right at my face. A split second later and I would've toppled over.

"Hey!" I shouted, laughing as I threw the pillow back at him.