Two Sides of the Serpent // Draco Malfoy

Chapter Seven: Slughorn's Christmas Party

Draco and I had tremulous storms roaring within us. Though we didn't speak of it, we both felt a sense of remorse and guilt from what has transpired with Katie and the necklace. Despite the turmoil we felt the world still moved on around us. The castle buzzed excitedly for the Quidditch match that drew near, capturing the attention of both students and faculty, pushing the incident to the back of peoples minds.

Everyone rallied together, wearing their beloved teams symbols and face paint, coming together at the pitch. Flags and hand written signs to motivate their fellow housemates filled the stands, the cheering so loud it could be heard all the way back to the Transfiguration Courtyard.

While students and staff had gathered at the pitch, Draco and I found ourselves in the quiet common room. The room was filled with an uncomfortable tension as we sat silently, our minds racing with thoughts of our next move, knowing the Dark Lord will be displeased to hear of our failed attempt.

"Draco.." I began, my tone was laced with frustration, "How are we going to succeed?"

He sat with his leg crossed over the other, his knuckles resting at his bottom lip as he stared into the fireplace. "We've already caused enough trouble.." He stated blandly. "We need to lay low and let things settle. We can try again after Christmas."

Unable to contain my own frustration I moved to the edge of my seat and leaned forward, looking directly into his icy eyes. "We can't afford to just wait! Every moment we do, Dumbledore is becoming more of a threat, become more suspicious."

His brown turned inward, I could see in his eyes that he was torn; torn between his desire for caution and his fear of the consequences. "We have no plan in place and I have no idea where to start, Evelyn. So please- indulge me. What do you suggest we do?"

I sighed, realizing that convincing Draco to act immediately would be no easy task. "Look.. I understand your concerns, but right now, we can not let fear paralyze us. We have to find a different way.. Before someone catches suspicion if they haven't already." I pushed myself back against the chair, rolling my eyes. "Merlin knows Potter is already on our tail, no doubt."

"We can't make anymore mistakes.. I just.. There's too much to lose," He stated, his tone filled with frustration and uncertainty.

"But we also can't afford to let Dumbledore catch on. We need to find a way to get closer to him," I urged him.

Draco ran a hand through his hair, clearly torn between our desire to complete our mission and the fear of making another disastrous move. "I'll start gathering information discreetly," he finally said, clapping his hands together. "But we need to be patient, wait for the right moment."

I nodded in agreement. "Patience may be our greatest asset, Draco. But we can't let our guard down. For now, we will continue to plan and strategize. Once we find an opening, we move."

With that being said, we came to an uneasy agreement. The decisions we were to make in the up coming months would, in the end, determine not only our fate, but of the world as we knew. Soon, the common room filled with students, their disappointment was clear and hinted that we had lost the match.

Draco rose from the chair and strode off without another word, disappearing in the crowd. I knew he needed time to himself, an opportunity to collect his thoughts and possibly contact our more discreet alliances. I remained sat on the plush armchair, gazing into the flames and lost in my own thought. I hardly noticed the others approaching until Theo plopped himself down in the chair adjacent to mine.

Blaise threw his gloves onto the coffee table agitatedly. Sinking into the couch he groaned, "Fucking Gryffindor."

"There, there, Blaise. They will all get what's coming to 'em," Pansy attempted to ease his nerves and placed a hand on his shoulder. Although, he was too worked up in the moment as he shrugged her hand off him.