Revenge

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, places, etc. they all belong to J.K. Rowling and her people and I do not profit from my work.

Chapter Eight: Old friends: New enemies

Draco stared at the name of his former classmate and friend, which was printed in lilac smoke and floating above the cauldron in Luna and Neville’s kitchen. His brow fussed as he tried to piece all the evidence together. The crumbs that had been left on the floor in the Floo Control Room certainly fit with Goyle’s messy demeanour, but there was no way that he would have been powerful enough to breakdown the wards surrounding the door.

The spell eventually wore off and the name erupted into little sparks of twinkling lilac, which landed within the cauldron. This flare-up pulled Draco out of his stupor, just as Harry suggested they retreat to the living room to plan what their next move should be. The others had nodded and followed Harry out of the kitchen. Draco took one last look at the space, which had been previously occupied by the name, before joining the others in the sitting room.

He placed himself between Harry and Luna on the settee and began listening to the conversation that was going on around him.

“Do we know how many Death Eaters there are?” Hermione asked, looking over at Harry who shrugged his shoulders.

“My boss guessed there may only be four or five of them, but he couldn’t be too sure,” Harry replied. Hermione nodded in response and looked down at her lap with a pensive look on her face as she tried to piece together the tiny bits of information they had.

“Well we have a name now, so at least we know who one of them is,” Ron spoke up.

“Two,” Draco suddenly said without looking up.

“What?” said Ron. Draco looked up to see everyone looking at him curiously.

“We know who two of them are. If Goyle is working with the Death Eaters, then Crabbe will be too. They never do anything without the other one,” he explained. Though it may not have looked like it from the outside, Crabbe and Goyle had been more than his muscle during the first five years of school, they had been his friends. Draco thought he knew them better than they knew themselves. Although, he never recalled Goyle having much magical power. In fact, for a pureblood wizard, Goyle had been somewhat weak when it came to his magical capability.

"Okay, so we know who two of them are. What do you suggest we do now, Draco?" Draco looked up at Luna, wondering why she was looking at him for answers. Was it not Harry who worked as an Auror? Draco looked around at everyone else. They were all awaiting his answer, even Harry was looking at him expectantly. He shrugged his shoulders and dropped his gaze to the floor.

"I don't know. I just... don't know," he replied, dejectedly. The group sat in silence for a while, each pondering what their next move should be to rescue Neville. After a while, Ron's voice cut through the silence.

"I'm going to nip to St. Mungo's, see if Seamus is awake. He may be able to help us," he said. As the group nodded, Ron stood, took a handful of Floo Powder from the mantel and disappeared in the luminous green flames. Silence once again fell upon them. Even Harry, who had been through an extensive training programme to become an Auror, had no idea what to do now. Usually, when he was working, he didn't do much of the thinking. He was told what to do and he just did it. Granted, there were instances when he had acted on instinct instead of following orders and he had gained serve warnings for this for his disrespect of authority.

Draco sighed. He was getting anxious, the longer they did nothing, the more likely it was becoming that they would never see Neville again. He knew what he was feeling must have been nothing compared to Luna. You could tell, just by looking in her eyes that she was scared. Like the rest of them, she had been through so much in her young life and she didn’t deserve what was happening. During the final battle, two vicious Death Eaters, Peter Pettigrew and Lucuis Malfoy had cornered her. They had their wands aimed at her and were wearing smug looks on their faces. Draco had seen this happen and was rushing towards the fearful girl. He was close enough to hear his father and Wormtail utter the worst of the three unforgivable curses. Draco had leapt into the air, slamming his body into the side of Luna, knocking the girl to the ground. The curse had narrowly missed them both and his father had cried out in rage. Draco had had to think fast. Aiming his wand in his father’s direction he shouted ‘Crucio’ and watched as his father doubled over in pain. Wormtail had frozen, watching the scene play out between father and son. All the hatred he had felt towards his father had poured itself into one of the most powerful ‘Crucio’ curses ever to be cast. A group of Aurors had eventually pulled him away and his father had been arrested, albeit he was no longer in a sane state of mind. It wasn’t long after this that his parents had received the Dementor’s Kiss.

Luna, and Neville, had thanked Draco profoundly for his act of bravery. He didn’t feel as if he deserved their gratitude, after all, he had treated them so badly during the first five years at Hogwarts that Draco felt he owed them a huge debt. That however, was not the reason he had risked his life to save Luna. He had done it because she had been one of the first people to trust him when he had joined the side of the light and she had supported him unwaveringly, even at times when most people doubted him.

Draco placed is hand gently onto Luna’s arm. Her eyes were full of shiny unshed tears as she turned to him and offered a weak smile of thanks for his support. He was just about to pull the small girl into another hug, when a loud tapping noise came from the kitchen, causing everyone in the room to jump. Harry wiped out his wand and cautiously began moving towards the kitchen, gesturing for the rest of the group to stay put. Draco noticed Hermione’s hand curl around the edge of her wand, which was sticking out of the pocket of her robes. He followed her actions, feeling the smooth, cool wood as he curled his fingers around his wand. He began to relax when no more sound came from the kitchen. He watched the door, waiting for Harry to return. He always felt better when the raven-haired boy was near to him. Harry radiated safety.

The Auror returned, clutching a black envelope, which he handed to Draco, who looked at it curiously. It had his name scrawled on the front in silver ink. Each letter was perfectly formed Thought Draco did not recognise the handwriting, something in the back of his mind told him he had seen it before. Turning the envelope over, he broke the wax seal and pulled out the parchment from within, which was also black in colour.

Dear Draco,

How long as it been now since we last spoke? A year? Longer? Draco, dear, how I do miss you. Doing the Lord’s work is just not as fun without you here to come up with truly vicious plans. We all had such high hopes for you at school. Some even entertained the idea, that with a little push, you could be just as vindictive as the Dark Lord himself. However, you chose to become a blood traitor. You betrayed your family, your friends, your master, but most of all, you betrayed yourself. You could have been something great! A killer, a predator. Instead, you became the hunted.

Now to the point of this letter. I have a friend of yours, and I have to say, he looks somewhat pathetic, snivelling on the floor, covered in his own blood. He is weak, just like you and your friends... easily broken. They cannot help you now, you know, your so-called ‘friends’. Bringing them along when you rescue Neville, and I know you will come to rescue him, will only result in his immediate death. I expect to see you soon and if you have not figured out where we are, then you are more stupid than I thought. Then again, I have gotten better at covering my tracks. However, where else would I want to meet you again? Do not keep me waiting to long!

PP

Draco stared at the letter, reading it twice to make sure he had not misread anything. When he looked up, three sets of eyes were gazing at him, waiting to know what was in the letter. He looked at all three faces; he could not tell them what he had just read. He didn’t think he could bear to see anymore anguish or pain on their faces. He knew what he had to do. He took one last look at Harry, the only person he had ever truly loved, dropped the letter to the floor and Apparated away.