As the class bell rings, a group of first years rise.
"Now don't forget to look over the chapter on antidotes. I'll be poisoning one of you next time we meet. I'm joking! Off you go! Don't forget your rattails, Miss Alys."
As the tiny ones scurry out, Harry and I are waiting just outside the door. We enter. For a moment, Slughorn merely hums over his briefcase, unaware.
"Ah! If it isn't the Prince of Potions himself! Oh, and Mia, how lovely to see you! To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Well, sir, I wondered if we might ask you something." Harry says. Slughorn smiles.
"Ask away, my dears, ask away!"
"Well, you see, the other day we were in the Restricted Section, in the library, and we stumbled upon something rather odd while reading. Something about a bit of rare magic..." I begin.
"Yes? And exactly what was this rare magic."
"We're not sure... That is, we don't recall the name... exactly. But it got us wondering... Are there some kinds of magic you're not allowed to teach?" Slughorn looks up, eyes Harry carefully.
"I'm a Potions Professor. Perhaps your question would best be posed to Professor Snape." He tries to brush us off. I choose my next words carefully.
"Yes, well, we don't exactly see eye-to-eye, sir. What I mean to say is, he's not like you. He might... misunderstand." Recognition flickers in Slughorn's eyes. A glint of fear.
"There can be no light without the dark. And so it is with magic. Myself, I have always strived to live within the light. I suggest you do the same." Slughorn gathers his briefcase, starts to exit.
"Did you say the same to Tom Riddle, sir? When he came asking questions." Slughorn freezes in the doorway as my brother asks this question, then slowly turns.
"Dumbledore put you two up to this. Didn't he? Didn't he!"
"Sir-" I try to apologize, but it's too late. He's already gone.
Later that night, Hermione and I do our homework while Harry peers at the Marauder's Map.
"Did you actually expect you could just walk up to Ol' Sluggy and ask him to reveal his deepest, darkest secret? Honestly, sometimes I think the Daily Prophet should call you the Dim Ones." Hermione jokes.
"Nice." Harry says annoyed.
"No, shes right." I agree. "We're going to have to persuade him somehow. And now, I'm afraid, we've made it a lot harder."
"Hermione? Mia? I think Malfoy's leaving the castle." Hermione and I stop dead, and look back at Harry. He nods. "I've seen it. Sometimes... sometimes he just disappears off the Map."
"That's... not possible. No one can leave the castle these days." I try to tell him.
"Mia's right, Harry. The Map must be wrong." Hermione adds.
"The Map is never wrong."
I frown, thinking, then shake my head, turning away. I gather my things and head up to my dormitory.
I don't know what I should do. Should I tell someone about my conversations with Draco? Should I be concerned with everything that's going on? And am I an idiot for thinking Draco Malfoy might turn good?
My thoughts are interrupted by Hermione. She comes in and takes a seat next to me on my bed. She's been my best friend since first year, she knows when I'm hiding something.
"What's going on?" She asks, concerned.
"I don't know if I should tell you." I say honestly to her.
"What do you mean? I thought we could trust each other enough to say anything?" Her expression seems a bit hurt.
"I do trust you, Hermione, I do. But it's... complicated."
"Well, maybe I can help un-complicate it."
"Okay." I look down and take an a deep breath. "I have these... conversations... with a certain individual. And I'm not sure what I should do."
"Who?" She asks, confused.
"Malfoy."
Her eyes go wide. "Malfoy? Draco Malfoy? Doesn't he hate us?"
"Well, yes... but... he's going through something right now."
"Like what?"
"He's being threatened. By Voldemort." I come clean.
"Did he say that?"
"Well, not in those words, but I've put two and two together." I tell her. She's still looking confused. "He's been given a task. He's being forced to do something. Something awful, and if he doesn't, Voldemort's going to kill him and everyone he loves."
"What task?" Hermione asks, not knowing what to do with the information.
"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me, but I'm not so sure I want to know."
"So, technically, Harry's been right. He is planning something." She states.
"Well, yes." I pause. "And there's something else."
"What? What is it?"
"I may have suggested to him that he should start an uprising. And funny enough, I think he's considering it." She's taken back by my words. Completely speechless. "Is it mad for me to think he's actually considering it?"
"Well, I don't know." Hermione tells me.
"Is it bad I kinda feel sorry for him?"
"No, because if all this is true, then so do I."
Then, out of nowhere, I hear my brother calling for me.
"Mia! Mia!"
I look to Hermione, worried, then run down to meet him and Ron in the common Room.