My Father's Only Rule {DRACO MALFOY X SNAPE'S DAUGHTER}

Chapter Seven: Letters From Old Friends

September 1997 - Hogwarts

I had high hopes for my first day of real classes. That was until Draco came barging into my room before we had all planned to leave for breakfast. He was half-dressed and threw himself on my bed while I was adjusting my tie.

"What's up?" I asked him. "Are you ready for class?"

"I'm not going," he groaned.

"What? What do you mean you're not going?"

"I mean I'm skipping," he said. I'd had enough.

"Draco, get up," I said. "You've got to quit sulking. I'm tired of it. I'm trying to enjoy my seventh year."

"Things are not what they used to be, Grace," he said. "It's not the same."

"I know," I said. "It's not the same. It's better."

"Are you mad?" he said. "It's better? Give me one good reason why it's better."

"Because," I said. "Four years ago I had a huge crush on a blonde kid with an attitude. And I was so scared of disobeying my father's only rule that I refused to entertain it. And then a few months later, my dream came true, but nobody could know. Then a series of stupid decisions led me right back to my rightful place at his side, but still secretly. You know it was frustrating. Not being able to tell anyone. And guess what? Now I can walk into the great hall hand in hand with him and it doesn't matter who sees. Isn't that better than before?"

He said nothing.

"Come on," I said.

"I still can't go out there," he said.

"Why not?"

"Pansy," he said. "She was hitting on me. I couldn't escape. I'm pretty sure she's waiting by the common room door."

"Ugh, that bitch," I said. "Did you tell her we're together?" He didn't say anything. "Draco! You didn't tell her?"

"Well, I wasn't quite sure what all we were keeping a secret."

"Come on," I said, dragging him out the door as he was still buttoning his shirt. He was right. Pansy was waiting by the common room door.

"Oh, hi, Draco," she said. Then she saw me. "Snape," she spat. It was causing a scene. Well, I think what really caused the scene was the fact that everyone saw Draco and me coming out of my bedroom.

"Oh my god, this is unbelievable," I said. "Is everybody watching? Can I get everyone's attention please?" I did, in fact, have everyone's attention. All of Slytherin house had their eyes on me. "Ok, I just want everyone to see this." I grabbed Draco by the collar and kissed him in a way that some first-year parents would have been mortified to know that their children witnessed. I got de ja vu as I heard cheers and whistles. It reminded me of the times I kissed Cedric and got the same attention. When I finally pulled away from Draco's lips, I saw that he was smiling for the first time in, like, forever.

"Happy now?" I whispered to him.

"Yeah," he said.

"Good," I said. I turned to Pansy. "Got that?" I could see the anger brooding in her. Jane and Blaise came up behind us.

"Come on, then," she said. "You've given Slytherin enough entertainment to go on for the day."

"Damn," Blaise said. "How long has that been going on?" Draco and I looked at each other as we tried not to laugh.

"Way too long," I said.

"Did you know about this?" Blaise asked Jane.

"Hell yeah," she said.

"Why am I always the last to know about things?"

As we made our way to the great hall, Draco put his arm around me. That was a first. We finally sat down for breakfast as the daily mail came in. While everyone around me opened their mail, I felt something in my pocket that wasn't there before. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a piece of paper...no...a letter.

"Oh, you've got something," Jane said. She didn't see that I had pulled it out of my pocket and not from the pile of mail on the table. "Go on, open it." I opened it slowly. I only opened it enough to see one line of writing and recognized whose it was immediately. 

Hermione.

"Oh," I said. "It's just, um, The Three Broomsticks," I said, quickly putting it away. "I left my, um, bracelet there. When we went. Remember, Jane?"

"After the workshop?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," she said. "Well, that's kind of boring."

"Yep. So boring. I'm going to the bathroom, I'll see you guys in charms, ok?" Before I gave them a chance to answer, I gave Draco a peck on the lips and practically ran out of the great hall. I ran to the nearest bathroom and opened my letter. I didn't question how Hermione managed to get my letter into my pocket.

Dear Grace,

First of all, I know it's coming up soon, so happy early birthday. Second of all, there's no need to remind me how stupid it is to write to you. It's incredibly unsafe and I'm well aware. But I simply cannot keep my sanity with Ron and Harry without someone else to talk to. I have to talk to someone. Neville, Ginny, and Luna are all easy targets. But nobody would dare question you. So I thought you made the most sense to write to.

I'm not sure exactly how much you know about why we're not in school this year. Obviously, all muggle-borns were not allowed back, so that explains my absence. But it goes much further than that, really. See, Harry, Ron, and I are hunting Horcruxes. Voldemort split his soul into seven parts so that to kill him, we'd have to destroy all of the objects he put his soul into. We are searching for those objects. Harry destroyed one of them during second year. Dumbledore destroyed another last year. Today, we managed to infiltrate the ministry and grab another one. I'm sure you'll see it in the papers tomorrow. You'll never guess who had it. I'll give you a hint. She looks like a toad and wears a lot of pink.

I understand if you don't want to write back to me. But if you do, I've enchanted this parchment. Just write on the back and place the parchment under your pillow. I hope to hear from you soon, but if not that's alright.

Best wishes and lots of love,

Hermione

I couldn't believe it. I would have written her back immediately if I didn't have to go to Charms class. I quickly made my way there and started writing her a letter.

Dear Hermione,

I'm so glad to hear from you, thank you for writing to me. I really have been worried about the three of you and it was a relief to get a letter from you. I hope you're all doing well. Or as well as you can, given the circumstances. I'd never heard of a Horcrux before. If there's anything I can do to help you find them, I'd be happy to. We all miss you terribly.

Sorry, you had to face Umbitch again. It's crazy what's happening. Voldemort is everywhere and so many people are blind to it. The new minister is with Voldemort. I saw him at Malfoy Manor. So many of our teachers have been replaced.

It's a shame you can't be here. Seventh year is turning out to be very cool. We're doing a career workshop where basically every Friday we have no real classes. We've been divided into categories based on our scores on the career assessment quiz, such as Ministry and Sciences. Every Friday from 11-2, we meet in a group with a teacher who I'm guessing will teach us about how to navigate securing an occupation once we graduate. But the best part is that the rest of the day is our own.

Feel free to write to me as often as you want. I know you're taking good care of Harry and Ron, as agonizing as it may be. I miss you, and I can't wait to see you when it's all over.

Love,

Grace