Hidden Draco

Secrets Uncovered

I had been there when Dumbledore's body lay, lifeless, on the cold, stony floor.

Students were crying, others silent in shock, and others muttering conspiracies about what had happened to each other. I was paralysed, staring at the legendary wizard's body surrounded by Professors. And ofcourse, Harry Potter. He had no doubt seen the whole ordeal. He always seemed to be there when disaster struck and so there was no question about where he had been this time.

On the other hand, where was Draco? When I finally got back down to earth, anxiousness suddenly raced through my veins as I realised that he was nowhere to be seen.

And then suddenly, I heard it.

"Apparently Draco was the one who was meant to kill him!"

I felt like vomiting immediately. Rushing back inside to the common room, I ignored anybody I came across, desperate to make it before I threw up. But also desperate to see Draco sitting in the emerald green armchair by the fire that he always sits on, explaining that he had been doing homework and that's why he was missing.

As I got to the entrance of the dungeons my heart was pounding in my chest, and, in my confusion, forgot the password.

"Merlin !" I tried. Nothing moved. My stomach was still turning and I suddenly also felt faint. "Devil's Snare !" I tried again. Before I could try a third time, I became excessively dizzy and collapsed. The last thing I felt before I blacked out was a pair of arms catching me.

----

"Hey, are you feeling better?" a familiar voice whispered. My eyes slowly opened and in front of me was exactly the person I wanted to see.

Draco was wearing the suit I had seen him in earlier, but his mood was entirely different. He looked concerned as he wet my head with a damp cloth. It was at this point that I realised that I was lying in my bed, shivering.

"How did you get into the girls' dormitory ?" I asked, trying to put the pieces of the story together.

"I explained the situation to The Bloody Baron," Draco responded. Rules were often surpassed in the dungeons by just asking the ghost permission.

"What happened?" I asked, sitting up. Draco immediately pushed me back down.

"You fainted at the entrance to the common room. I brought you in and realised you had a fever." Which explained why he was nursing me. He looked focussed and serious as he did this, a side of him that he had never let through before. It was refreshing.

And then I remembered.

"Draco, where were you earlier? I looked all over for you!" He took the cloth away and stood up, marching to the door of the dormitory. I sat up and called after him, concerned about the reaction. He turned to face me, and quickly said:

"I'm just going to get something." For the short moment that his face was turned towards me I could see tears welling up in his eyes. Troubling thoughts passed through my head and tears started welling up in mine as well.

I had always trusted Draco with my life, and the thought that he could have even been considering taking someone else's seriously disturbed me. Slytherin house had the reputation of the evil house, and while many dark wizards had come out of it, I had hoped that that wouldn't be the case for people I loved. Many of my peers' parents were Death Eaters and hadn't tried to hide it, but Draco always seemed softer. Maybe not to others, like Potter and his gang, but to me, someone he shared his thoughts and secrets with, he seemed incapable of actually doing evil. He was troubled, sure, but what could you expect, coming from a family like the Malfoys? I could relate to his pain turbulent life, but I couldn't relate to the dark dealings he was rumoured to have been partaking in.

If it was true, I would have to leave Hogwarts, as soon as possible. Maybe even before my fever had disappeared. I needed to go back home and shelter from Draco. An ominous mood had been descending on Hogwarts for some time now, but Dumbledore's death seemed to be the final straw for anybody who was frightened of the Dark Lord. For me, Draco's involvement would be the last straw.

Draco came back in a few minutes later holding a cup of tea that he must have hand-brewed, which he knew I preferred over what he usually did (conjuring it up). Growing up in a Muggle home, I knew just how to make a cup of tea, and it was something I taught Draco one late December night when we were both at school for Christmas. It was one of my fondest memory- eventhough I had to hide the fact that I learned the skill from Muggles.

For Draco wasn't the only one with secrets. He had no idea that I had been adopted into a wizard family when I turned 11 so that I had a better chance of survival in the Wizarding World. It was actually people like Draco's family that made life hell for Mudbloods, and Hagrid knew a nice Pureblood family looking to take a Mudblood under their wing. Obviously I had to hide my past and I wouldn't be able to see my parents again, a fact which I didn't quite understand the weight of when I was 11. I didn't have a happy upbringing in my Muggle family (one of the reasons I empathise with Draco's familial problems so much), but a lifetime without them was actually more and more difficult the older I got. For my parents, it was easy: they had been victims of the Obliviate spell. And my Pureblood parents were sworn to secrecy about my identity, which they were happy to do since they were Muggle-sympathisers.

I sat up as he handed me the tea and I examined his face more closely. His cheeks looked red and I thought I could even detect a twitch above his left eyebrow. We sat in silence for a while before I mustered enough courage to say anything.