Good 'N Bad

Chapter : 11 Now what?

Classes continued in full swing, with as much homework as before. Hermione was starting to get frantic about how much work she had pending and it didn't help at all when Ron would keep passing comments like how even if she didn't do any homework at all, she would still know a whole lot more than their entire class combined. I haven't been able to help Harry much because in the last few days he had frequent meetings with Dumbledore and whenever he didn't, he kept pouring over the Potions book.

He had excelled in Potions this year, much to the annoyance of Hermione. She kept saying that he was cheating. When I asked her one day what she meant by that, all she said was, 'Oh, Harry is using an old book of potions which he found in the store cupboard, and the instructions written in it are different from the actual instructions'. I could only assume that there were extra notes in the book, which Hermione did not approve of. Ginny also took her side as well while I stayed out of it. Hogsmeade weekends were cancelled for the rest of the term, because of what happened last time.

Speaking of which, I hadn't seen much of Malfoy after the dance, he didn't even show up for potions. So, I was a little surprised to see him sitting at the Slytherin table that day at breakfast. He looked ..... tired ... exhausted even, and it made me wonder what on earth that boy was up to. He glanced up in my direction and I immediately looked away. His gaze was too intimidating and I tried to avoid it if I could.

Christmas was approaching and I was eager to spend the holidays at home, eager to take a break from all of the hectic homework. But time does not move fast when we want it to, instead it seemed to drag on.

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'Wingardium leviosa', a piece of parchment floated and flopped near me.

'Accio quill', and it soared across the room and I caught it neatly. I was practicing magic in my room for my own entertainment, when someone knocked on my door and came in. Ginny was standing at the doorway, 'Ava, Professor Snape wants to see you. He's in his office'.

I jumped up and walked over to the other end of the school, wondering the entire time why Uncle Sev wanted to see me. I knocked on his door and a curt voice answered, 'Come in'.

'You wanted to see me Uncle Sev?'

'Ah yes', he said and gave me a small smile (one he always kept for me), while motioning me to sit, 'The thing is, I have agreed to have a guest in our house for the holidays and I wanted to know if you would be okay with that'.

'Do I know who the guest is?'

'As a matter of fact you do. We will be taking in Draco Malfoy for the two weeks. Malfoy Manor has been made temporary headquarters of the Dark Lord and his mother does not want him to be stuck in the middle of all of it.'

My mind just froze. Draco Malfoy! At our house! For TWO weeks! I could see my plan of avoiding Malfoy shatter before my eyes. I was so shocked that all I could manage to say was, 'Well, if you're sure.'

'I am, and don't worry, I will try not to get him in your way too much', yeah right, that was his way of saying that I was going to have a hard time trying to manage two men in the house.

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Soon it was the last weekend before the holidays and as I had promised Uncle Sev that I would help clean his office, I went straight there after lunch, only to find out that Uncle Sev couldn't be there to help me. It seemed that an urgent meeting with Professor Dumbledore came up and he had to leave immediately.

Anyway, I thought I'd start and decided to go through all the pieces of parchment on his table, throwing away the scraps into the bin. I was halfway through, when I was interrupted by a knock. I turned to see Draco standing at the doorway, carrying a huge crate in his arms.

'Professor Snape asked me to bring this to his office', he said entering and placing it on the table.

'Oh.... yes, I think I will need that. Thank you', I was surprised to hear my own voice change, it sounded meek.

'So, are you cleaning up? Do you need some help?' I looked up at him and noticed bags under his eyes.

'Draco, you look tired. Haven't you been sleeping lately?' He looked at me for a few seconds as if pondering whether to tell me or not.

'No, I haven't', he said and stopped at that. He picked up a few empty bottles from the shelf and dropped them into the crate he had brought in. Guessing he didn't want to talk more on the subject, I changed it.

'So, Uncle Sev says you'll be staying with us during the holidays', I said in as cheery a voice I could muster, 'It'll be fun', I hope.

'I don't understand why I have to. I can't find any reason as to why I can't be home', he complained. 'Mum still thinks of me as a small boy, when I'm clearly not. I am a death eater for crying out loud. I have as much right as any of them to be present in whatever meeting they are arranging.'

It took me a few moments for me to regain myself from the sudden outburst, 'But, do you want to be there?'

----------|Draco's POV|----------

"Do I want to be there", she asks. Of course not. Who wants to be in the presence of You Know Who, except maybe, aunty Bellatrix. And she is a crackpot, everyone knew that. But I didn't and I was more than glad to be rid of the place if I could help it. I didn't want anyone to know that of course. Call it ego or pride, I didn't care. I was not going to admit to anyone that I was scared.

Exasperated, I just sighed deeply, hoping she wouldn't press the question further. I took more bottles from the shelf, inspecting a few before I put it away, when I heard a loud clatter. I turned round to see Ava on her hands and knees on the floor, one hand clutching her chest, panting.

I rushed over to her, shouting my concerns. I tried to get her to talk to me, but she was crying in pain, her eyes shut tight. I held her close to me, not knowing what to do. I could feel her grip tighten on my chest. I started panicking.

What in Salazar's name was going on?

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