𝑆𝐴𝑉𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝐷𝑅𝐴𝐶𝑂 𝑀𝐴𝐿𝐹𝑂𝑌

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗 - 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫

No emotions from now on, Draco. You need no soul.

I bought another Starry Night notebook from the gift shop, just in case I run out of pages, or so I told myself.

Back to normal, now, Draco, I reminded myself. I left, smoked, drunk that night, and eventually forgot.

⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼

I spent my entire Wednesday in our library.

Bella would provocatively come and go, distracting me from my research. Mother would scoff that I had spent yet another day not talking to anyone but at least she was happy I stayed in the house instead of running off to some random city or other.

We all need a Vanishing Cabinet sometimes.

The girl had read through me like an open book. I shook my head, hoping that a physical gesture could drive the thoughts away, and kept on reading.

I considered my plan for a long while. If I wanted to make this work, I would need support after I killed Dumbledore. I thought about every aspect of it. I even wrote it on a piece of paper – and then burned it, of course. It seemed risky but somehow foolproof. It was something Dumbledore would never think to check. I wasn't anywhere near to deciding how I would eventually kill him but at least I was getting closer.

After nightfall, I knocked on my mother's door. I knew that Bella and she would have already started their light nightcap.

"Yes, Draco?" Mother was pouring herself a glass of wine.

Bella was sitting clumsily on the floor. She was slouching over her crossed feet, playing with the curls in front of her eyes. It was her reaction that I feared the most because the flawlessness of a plan showed in how many holes she could poke through it.

"I think I have a plan," I said hesitantly.

"Not the poison thing again. It's never going to work!" shouted Bella and let herself lay back on the green, Persian carpet.

"I haven't decided how I'm going to do it yet. But if we want to take over Hogwarts, we have to find a way to bring more Death Eaters in. So, I was thinking-"

"I doubt that..." scoffed Bellatrix. Mother quickly gave her a sharp look. She was getting more impatient with her constant demeaning me nowadays.

"-a Vanishing Cabinet."

Bella shot up and seemed suddenly interested, fascinated. "Oh!" she said with a hint of surprise. "And how do you suggest we bring a bloody Vanishing Cabinet in Hogwarts? Will you throw one in your backpack right next to your lunch box?"

"I can find one in the castle," I said reassuringly. "Leave that to me."

If I had learned anything during my fifth year in Hogwarts, it was how many opportunities I had lost by being oblivious of the existence of the Room of Requirement. Dumbeldore's Army might have been a humiliation to the school as much as it was a fiasco, but at least now I was sure that, if I really needed something, I could find it in the room where Potter and his friends met to conspire.

"Well done, Draco." Mother stood and walked to me. She put a hand against my cheek and finally seemed proud.

"Can we find one?" I asked.

"The Ministry broke all connections after the First War. And even if we found one, we will have to fix it," explained Mother.

"Leave everything to me. Can we find one?" I insisted.