I don't own any of the characters apart from Melanie Malfoy. All of the characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
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"Mr Malfoy, you're next," the cold voice of Severus Snape carried through to me over the crowds.
My mind went into overdrive. I needed a way to quickly make sure the necklace couldn't be detected. Cho just stood looking over the scene, smiling at the idea of the day ahead. Slowly, I moved my hand to my wand stored in the side of my jeans. Luckily, someone shouted Cho over to them just as I needed to say the spell. She smiled apologetically at me before walking over to the Ravenclaw who was motioning to her.
I let out a sigh of relief and then muttered a concealment charm under my breath just to make sure no one was listening in to me. I then quickly turned my attention to the person Draco was waking over to. Filch, with his secrecy sensor. I mentally hit myself. The concealment charm wouldn't work on the sensor.
Filch had started towards Draco with a snarl on his face and had the sensor at the ready. So, I did the first thing that popped into my head.
"Bombarda!" I whispered, aiming my wand at the sensor just as it started to emit a loud screeching noise and lit up. The small device exploded in Filch's hand just as a smug smile had appeared on his face. He was now looking down at the object in shock, so I took my chance. "Confundus!"
A dazed face appeared on the caretaker and Snape had started advancing towards him. He looked livid, and when he finally came to stand in front of Filch, he slapped the sensor out of his hand and started an angry, whispered argument with him. All the students were watching with amusement.
After a short while, Draco decided to slowly make his way over to me again. The two adults were still in their argument and were oblivious to the students sneaking out around them. The other Aurors were all dealing with Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise Zabini and whatever they were trying to get out of the castle.
"Nice one!" Draco whispered into my ear. I sent him a smirk and grabbed Cho by the arm and dragged her down the path to Hogsmeade. The conversation was easy on the way to the village, none of us talking about the scene between Filch, Draco and Snape. I wasn't really focusing on what we were talking about though. My excitement was getting greater with every step we took.
I stopped when we reached the entrance. It looked like something described in a children's book. Thatched cottages lined the streets, mixed with the small shops that students were filing in and out of in great numbers. Snow was just starting to fall and settle over the cobbled street.
Cho turned to Draco with a confused look on her face. He just chuckled and turned towards me and seeing the look of awe on my face.
"She was locked in our house pretty much since birth. She hasn't visited any wizarding villages before. She looked a bit like this when we first walked up to Hogwarts at the beginning of term. Basically, it's all new to her," he finished with a smile.
"Come on then. We'll start at the Three Broomsticks to warm us up," she said, chuckling along with Draco. She gently held my arm and led me along to the pub, which looked the most crowded out of all the buildings.
"Right, I'm just going to go and see...Crabbe and Goyle for a minute. Why don't you go and find us a table?" Draco asked us, while already walking in the direction of his 'friends'. I nodded in understanding and hurried over to a table at the back of the pub. Cho followed behind, slower, but didn't question mine or Draco's actions.
"I'll go and get the drinks," Cho told me when she reached the table. "You gonna be okay sat here on your own?"
"I'll be fine" I laughed. She smiled and made her way into the huge crowd. I rested my head against the table, just letting my mind wander onto anything. I still hadn't been getting much sleep, but when I had, horrible nightmares would wake me up. The task was definitely starting to have an effect on me.
Draco came to join me a short while after Cho had left, with a grave look on his face. I wasn't exactly sure what he had planned on doing, never mind what he had actually done, but I could tell it wasn't anything good.
"The necklace is no longer in our hands. Remember not to give anything away about it if anything gets asked about it," his voice was monotone and his eyes looked distant. It was weird seeing Draco like this. He normally tried to avoid letting himself getting into this kind of state."
"Why? What did you do?" I asked him, cautiously looking him over in case he decided to snap at me.
"Madam Rosmerta is under the Imperius curse. She's going to give someone the necklace and tell them to deliver it to Dumbledore. I think she might have to put them under the Imperius curse to get them to do that," he answered me in a hurried whisper. His body was now tensed up and I could practically see the fight he was having with himself.
"You did what?" I croaked. He never got a chance to answer as Cho came running forward at that minute.
"The bartender's acting all weird so the teachers have asked us to go back to the castle. We'll just have to show you around next time Mel."
With that, Cho walked out the pub, leaving me to help Draco. He was still in a bit of shock I think, from the spell he just had to perform. Then, he quickly straightened himself out and left me stood on my own in the middle of the room.
I stood for a couple of minutes, confused to how he snapped out of the daze so fast, but let myself get over it and made my way out into the blizzard that had started. Cho and Draco had both left me to walk on my own, and all the way back to the castle, I could hear two girls arguing over something.
An ear-splitting scream filled the silence around us and I whipped my head round to see one of the girls floating six feet above the ground. Her eyes were wide open in fear. Her arms were outstretched and her hair was whipped around her head by the wind. I could see her friend jumping, trying to grab hold of her friend's ankle, before the trio started to join in. I looked to the ground and saw the necklace Draco had this morning laying there. I couldn't stand to watch anymore and started sprinting towards the castle in search of my twin.
I didn't know where I'd find him but I kept running until I found myself outside the Slytherin common room. I raised my hand to start knocking but the wall moved aside and Draco stepped out. The second I saw him, I collapsed onto the floor and tried to catch my breath. It was also then that I realised tears were running down my cheeks.
Draco knelt down in front of me and lifted my face so he could see me more clearly. I still couldn't stop the uncontrollable tears from flooding down my face, even though I didn't fully know why I was crying in the first place.
"What happened?" Draco asked me softly, his grey eyes searching mine for any kind of answer. I opened my mouth to answer, but ended up taking a few mouthfuls of air before I thought I would be able to tell him what happened.
"The necklace." I choked out before resting my head on my knees to try and calm myself down again. When I looked up, Draco had a pensive look on his face and was waiting for me to expand on what I'd seen.
"A girl was holding it, walking down the path behind me. I think she was in Gryffindor. Well, anyway, she must have touched it because she was floating in the air and then let out a scream and started flailing about. The trio tried to help get her down and Potter was trying to figure out what had happened before I ran. The necklace was laid on the floor though, so I think he'll guess." I explained quickly, my voice breaking every so often from all the crying.
"Are you sure?" the roughness in his voice surprised me. I thought he would be shocked or that he would just walk away from me and then come and apologise later. Obviously, he just wanted to start another argument with me.
"Of course I'm sure!" I snapped at him and stormed off down the corridor back towards my own dorm.
**
Two weeks later, Draco was still avoiding me. Katie Bell, the girl who had been cursed, had been admitted into St Mungo's hospital and I was starting to get worried about the situation.
Cho knew me and Draco weren't talking but had stopped questioning me about it after I had said it was something to do with my family. I was grateful she wasn't talking about it, me and Draco hadn't gone this long without talking before and I was starting to feel guilty.
I had taken to wandering around the lake when I couldn't sleep. I hadn't stepped foot into the Room of Requirement since the day of the Hogsmeade trip. That was the thought that consumed me the most. I wasn't going through with the mission and I was scared the Dark Lord was going to find out about it.
It was about 1 o'clock in the morning now, and I was slowly making my way to the edge of the lake. The way the moonlight made it sparkle and how the water was so calm, made me feel a lot better. I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going and walked straight into something. Sorry, someone.
"Sorry, I should've been looking where I was going," I mumbled, trying to edge past the person I had just nearly knocked over.
"Oh, there's no need to worry Miss Malfoy," said a quiet voice. I quickly whipped my head around in the direction of the person. Now I looked closer, he was very tall, his hair reaching far down his back. When he turned to look at me, I could see a twinkle in his eyes.
"Professor Dumbledore?! H-how did you know a-about that?" I stuttered, taken aback by how he knew the truth. He laughed softly and sat down on a log next to the lake. He motioned me over to join him, which I did tentatively.
"I have my ways Miss Malfoy. Now I understand you haven't been talking to your brother recently." It wasn't a question, more a statement. Ignoring my attempts at words, he carried on. "No matter your differences, I think you should try and talk to him again. In a time like this, it is no time to be falling out with the people we care about the most in our lives."
I nodded in reply to him. I was still in a state of shock at how he knew my real identity. He gave me a pointed look, telling me to go and find Draco. I hopped of the log, muttered a quick 'thanks' to him in the process, and set off at a run for the castle. Again, I had no idea where Draco could be found so I let my feet lead me and found myself outside the Room of Requirement.
A small girl was stood outside the room holding some scales. As soon as she saw me approaching she dropped the brass objects with a panicked look on her face. I laughed at this and made my way over to the door that was behind her. She rushed over to stop me, but upon seeing the door materialise, stopped in her tracks and stared at it dumbfounded.
"I'm not stupid Crabbe; it was my idea to have someone guard the room while either me or Draco were inside." I smirked at him and yanked the door open. My twin was stood next to the vanishing cabinet, stooped over a small table covered in diagrams. I quietly walked over and stood behind him.
"You're up to this bit," I explained to him, reaching over and pointing to a complicated bit in the instructions. Draco jumped and raised his wand at me. I laughed at his reaction and moved his arm down before pulling him into a hug.
"Thank you! You don't know how long I've been trying to figure out what we've done. What made you come down here?" he asked me quizzically.
"Dumbledore." I ignored the look of distaste on his face, continuing before he jumped to conclusions. "I went down to the lake and he was there. He knows who I really am and he told me that I shouldn't push away the ones I care about. So, here I am!" I threw my arms out wide and put on a wide, cheesy grin to emphasise my point. He laughed and ruffled my hair and turned back to the diagrams he had laid out.
We just sat looking at the parchments for a long period of time. When we decided it was time to leave, I glanced back to see if we had left anything when I saw a tawny owl tapping lightly on the window.
"Hey Drake! Do you reckon its for us?" I tapped him on the shoulder and directed his gaze towards the owl who had started tapping more frantically.
"Only one way to find out," he muttered to himself. I saw him having to half wrestle the letter from the bird's grasp. When he finally had hold of the envelope, he turned to look at me with a blank expression on his face.
"It's from the Dark Lord."
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Hey guys! Sorry I didn't upload when I said I would, but I've been quite busy. But it's here now!
I don't think this is one of the best chapters but it is here to show Katie Bell getting cursed. I thought it would be better if Mel got to see it. I am currently in the middle of writing the main drama chapters that come later on in the story, so there is also them to look forward to.
If you like the story remember to vote & comment and maybe even fan? I will try and upload a bit earlier on the next chapter to make up for this one being late.
Thankyouu to everyone who has voted and commented already as well, it really does mean a lot and I like reading through the comments :) Hope you enjoy this one! C x