NUMB WITHOUT YOU | Draco Malfoy

| 26

It was becoming abundantly clear that whatever Camille Reeves was up to was an imminent threat that loomed over us like a dark storm cloud covering the horizon. Eventually the storm was going to be upon us and if we didn't figure it all out soon, we were going to get caught in the rain.

She was recruiting people. Those with past ties to Death Eaters, mostly. My Marked arm began to ache so much each day that it practically went numb. The worst part was that it looked like people were actually joining up. We knew for a fact that Vaisey, Pucey and Millicent Bulstrode had joined, so how many others were there? Not to mention all of the countless Death Eaters broken out of Azkaban that were still in hiding.

The fact that we hadn't seen or heard from any of them yet was really beginning to concern me. How many of them have been slipping right under the Ministry's noses? What were they all waiting for? Some sort of signal? Surely one of them would have shown up by now unless they were planning something big.

"We need to find a way to get into one of those meetings." I said one afternoon. "Theo, do you have any more information that you can possibly remember?"

Theo frowned, "No. I wasn't interested, so I didn't ask. You could try asking Harper though. He might know more, especially if Vaisey and Pucey joined up. Those are his mates these days."

"We'll figure something out." Draco assured me, though he didn't seem that confident. We kept coming up on dead ends.

"I just don't get how she's always a step ahead of me." I complained, "It's Camille for fucks sake! She's one of the stupidest people I think I've ever known."

"Yeah, it's Camille. That's exactly why." Draco interjected, "She's known you forever, so she knows exactly how to pull the wool over your eyes. She may be an idiot, but she is a master of deception. The girl is downright diabolical."

"It's just so infuriating." I groaned, "I helped her out for years. In school and afterward too, you know? How long has she been planning this - whatever this is?" I waved my hands around in frustration.

"Probably since Azkaban." Pansy noted from where she sat with Theo. Their legs were twisted together on a large chaise lounge, "I'm sure you've got a lot of time to plot and scheme in there."

"Yeah when the dementors aren't trying to kiss you, the guards aren't harassing you, and the other inmates aren't fighting you, you've got loads of time on your hands." I sneered.

My face softened as I looked at the shocked faces of those surrounding me and I spoke quietly, "Sorry. It's still kind of a raw feeling after all this time. I don't take freedom for granted. You might be right. Camille's Azkaban experience was wildly different than my own. She thrived there, despite everything. She probably made all kinds of connections on the inside."

Draco cleared his throat, "Listen, we're getting nowhere by just hoping Camille will slip up and give us some important information. We got lucky figuring out Goyle was recruiting because he's terrible at being discrete. They likely won't make that mistake a second time. I think it's best we try to figure out what's up with the necklace again. Maybe we try bringing it to another curse breaker for a second opinion? I know a guy who-"

I gasped, "The necklace!" It had been ages since I had even thought about it. So much had happened since Christmas. I had left it at the burrow completely unprotected in the back of some wardrobe. Nobody mentioned it to me, so I guess we were lucky that it hadn't caught fire again. We had to go get it. "It's still at the Weasley's."

"You left it there? Christmas was ages ago." Draco's voice turned shrill. "What is wrong with you? Aurora, you can't be serious. That is so incredibly irresponsible and to think that all this time-"