𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳~ 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦

Chapter 13: Missing in action

I didn't hear from Draco once for the rest of the Christmas holidays. It drove me crazy not knowing where he was or what he was doing. Whatever he had seen in his nightmare must have triggered something in him. There had been fear in his eyes just before he disappeared. My mood got worse day by day. Back at school, I walked through the halls with Harry and learned of a terrible incident at the Burrow that disturbed me even more. The Weasley home had been attacked by Death Eaters, the fields had burned, and Bellatrix Lestrange had sung:
"I killed Sirius Black." Harry was still mourning his late godfather, who was all that was left of his family. That remnant, too, had been taken from him. I felt the deepest pity for him. Since Harry had already noticed that certain things had developed between me and Draco, but he didn't know HOW far things had developed, I informed him of my knowledge regarding Snape and the unbreakable vow. He initially reacted with shock.
"I knew it! Malfoy is a Death Eater! And Snape too! We should report this." "Harry, no! I didn't tell you that so you could rat out Draco. And no one will believe the Snape thing, either. Dumbledore trusts him."
"And you seem to trust Malfoy, which shocks me most of all."
"Draco is-"
"You even call him by his first name, unbelievable!"
"It doesn't matter now. What's important is that we now know that Voldemort seems to be planning the next step. Draco could help us find out more about the matter, then can we may finally find a way to defeat Voldemort once and for all."
"We don't need Malfoy for that, I already have a plan. And Dumbledore trusts me completely." Harry interrupted our conversation because at that moment we approached a redhead and a somewhat chubby blonde. Lavender was handing Ron a box that Ron was surprised and opened it. Inside was a necklace that I knew 100 percent Ron would never wear. The look on his face spoke volumes. Lavender, however, didn't seem to notice his reaction at all; she happily threw herself on his neck and shouted: "Oh, my Ron One!" Then the two smooched. Harry next to me held back a laugh.
"Sorry, I'm going to take a break," I said to him disgustedly, leaving Harry alone with the slobbering couple.

I looked for Draco all day but couldn't find him anywhere. He remained missing for the next two days.
What had just happened? I decided to see Professor Snape. Draco had wanted to go to him; maybe he knew where I could find him. I found Snape in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom after dinner.
"Professor, can I interrupt for a moment?"
"You already do, Miss Granger." He looked up from a scroll of parchment. "Close the door." I did as he asked and then went to his desk.
"I know why you're here. I can't tell you where Mister Malfoy is right now."
"But you know where he is!" I realized. Anger rose within me. Apparently, Draco hadn't felt the need to inform me of his whereabouts, but he let Snape know where he was hiding. However, my concern for him exceeded my anger. "Please, Professor. I just want to know if he's okay." Snape seemed to scrutinize me, then I thought I saw his gaze soften.
"Miss Granger, I have a fair idea of how you feel about Mister Malfoy, and I happen to know that he has similar feelings for you, but let me give you some well-intentioned advice: don't keep looking for him. Don't put him at peace. He will show himself to you when he is ready, but until then, let him do his job."
"His task? You mean the order? He continues to carry it out?"
"He's doing everything to make sure you're safe, Miss Granger. Everything."

///

I felt persecuted. Was anyone suspicious? I had to hurry. For the umpteenth time, I stood in front of the disappearing cabinet in the Room of Requirements, an innocent white bird in my hand, which I then carefully placed inside the cabinet, then I closed the door. When I opened them again, I inhaled sharply. The bird lay where I had put it, but something was different. His neck was broken, and he remained motionless.
You do it for her. It is the only way to ensure their safety. The Death Eaters knew. I was back in the race.

Ron had been poisoned. On the way to the hospital room, Ginny told me about the incident:
"He was eating these strange chocolates that were actually for Harry, and then he suddenly became very strange, Harry said. It was a love spell, Hermione! Those chocolates were from Romilda Vane! She wanted to get Harry around with them; can you imagine that? Well, anyway, Harry went with him to Professor Slughorn, and he gave Ron an antidote. Then the professor wanted to give him something to strengthen him, a bottle of alcohol. Unbelievable, right? Slughorn actually gave Ron alcohol, and when he took a sip, he collapsed, and foam came out of his mouth."
"That’s terrible," I said simply.
"Yes, but the best part is yet to come: the bottle was actually a gift. For Professor Dumbledore." I stopped abruptly.
"You want me... but don't say that Slughorn tried to poison Dumbledore?"
"No, someone else wants to make it look like Slughorn tried to poison Dumbledore." That was really strange. Who could have wanted Dumbledore to be poisoned?

After we had paid Ron a short sick visit, during which Lavender suddenly appeared and immediately appointed himself his bodyguard, we sat at dinner in the large hall.
Suddenly, Harry stood up and went to the door to a Gryffindor student who turned out to be Katie Bell, the girl who had been cursed. By now, I was the only one who knew who it was. Harry talked to her for a moment, but then something at the entrance to the hall suddenly caught his attention. I followed his gaze and flinched.

Draco stood between the tables and stared at Harry and Katie.