For The Greater Good (A Draco Malfoy Story)

Mysteries at the Lovegood's

        We apparated onto a grassy hill above the Burrow, a collective sigh running through us at the sight. I could tell we were all thinking the same thing. How much had changed in a few months? Harry, Ron and Hermione used to spend summers at the Burrow and though Gabriel and I had only been there once, we had both created happy memories there. I looked at Ron and watched his colors dim to a muddy and dark blue and grey, colors of fear.

The Lovegood's were just around the bend from the Burrow so Ron knew where it was. When we arrived, he stared longingly into the distance, his emotions running rampant in his eyes. I knew I couldn't do much for him but to be there. Passing by him, I let my hand drift to his shoulder and squeeze comfortingly. He wasn't alone.

We walked all the way up the hill until a crooked looking house came into view. Bushes crowded around the front yard of the house and oddly instead of flowers, the bushes were growing radishes. Harry chuckled as his gaze took in every inch of the house. There was no doubt in our minds that this was Luna's house.

Harry knocked on the door and we all waited with baited breaths, hoping that Xenophilius would be home. Slowly the door opened and a pointed nose poked out from the slit of the door.

"Y-Yes?" the man spoke with a slight quiver in his voice. We all took a quick glance at each other before Harry spoke.

"Hello...Mr. Lovegood? It's me, Harry Potter," he said. Xenophilious's eyes grew wide as saucers, flickering so briefly I felt I was the only one who saw it. Suspicion tightened my chest. He closed the door and we heard the ticking of many locks being unlocked before he opened the door again and ushered us all in quickly. After we were all in he replaced all the locks on the door once again then he turned to us. A dark and murky pink light began to line his lanky figure, bringing a frown to my face. What was dark pink again? I had gotten the hang of most of the colors, but not all of them. I kept my findings listed in a simple journal hidden away in Hermione's purse, but I couldn't remember ever seeing dark pink yet.

I took a good look at Luna's father, trying to pinpoint the meaning of the color around his eccentric form. His blonde hair was dirty and matted and numerous worry lines outlined his face, making him seem years older. His back was slightly hunched and his unkempt clothes hung on his thin body like rags. My forehead crinkled, what was up with him?

"Well, y-you lot can go on upstairs to the first door on the right, I'll be just a second with the t-tea," he stuttered with a strained smile. We glanced at the spiral staircase in the middle of the odd looking room and hesitantly went upstairs. Harry looked towards a hallway that sported a room with the door opened halfway and started to make his way toward it. I followed, feeling like something was off about this place and the prickling feeling in my chest increase a bit. Oh, something was wrong alright.

"Harry, Rose, no it's rude to snoop," Hermione chastised us in a whisper as Gabriel grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks. Harry just continued on and turned a deaf ear to Hermione, much to her dismay. A conversation passed between Gabriel and I with our eyes and he nodded, letting me go. We both entered the room cautiously, looking around. It looked like a girl's bedroom. There was dust everywhere though, like it was fairly untouched. Bright colors mingled together in the decorations in a way that shouldn't have worked but it did. Quirky drawings lined the walls and I immediately knew it was Luna's room. I could see Harry's eyebrows furrow in confusion. Wasn't Luna on Christmas break? Why would her room be untouched? Where is she? I bit my lip as I thought all of the possible conclusions.

She's gone...kidnapped, a voice whispered in her head. Her head snapped up as the prickling feeling increased like her heart and lungs were on pins and needles. "I don't have a good feeling about this, guys," I whispered, backing out of the room. "We should leave."

"Not before we find out about the mark," Harry shook his head before marching to the room Xenophilius had told us to go to.

"Everything alright?" Gabriel asked me under his breath. I shook my head slightly but before I could do anything, Xenophilius walked in carrying a tray of tea, his hands trembling lightly. We sat quickly on the few chairs in the room. I heard my father's voice in my head just then. He had trained me for these kinds of situations. I head him say, "First, assess your surroundings. See what's not in front of you."

The whole room was cluttered with papers and a machine rattled and clanged noisily in the corner. Issues of The Quibbler littered the floor, the large wooden desk and were pinned to the wall. An office, where Xenophilius would print his articles against Voldemort.

He placed the tray on the clustered table and distributed the tea to each of us. I wrapped my hands around the cup for warmth but was disappointed to find none. At the corner of my eye, I saw Ron take a sip of the tea and promptly spit it back into the cup. I held in a bit of my laughter and pretended to take a sip, not wanting to be rude. I saw Gabriel, Harry and Hermione make the same grimace as Ron and I almost snorted into my tea. Gabriel shot a glare at me but stopped once Mr. Lovegood began speaking.

"So, what do you need my help for, Mr. Potter?" he said with a bit more confidence. Harry, grateful for an excuse not to drink the horrid tea, put his cup down and cleared his throat.

"Well, we'd like to know what that symbol you wore around your neck at the wedding meant." Xenophilious' pale eyebrows shot up in surprise, clearly not expecting our request, and took out a silver chain out from under his tattered shirt. Hanging from the chain was the enigmatic symbol. Harry twirled it between his fingers for a second, nodding. "Yes, this is it."

"This is the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, of course," Lovegood stated as if this answer was obvious enough. We all stared at him, the confused look stuck upon our faces. Lovegood sighed and began explaining. "It originated from a story, The Tale of Three Brothers--"

"I know that story! I read it in my book," Hermione exclaimed and quickly took out The Tales of Beadle The Bard. A look of recognition dawned on Ron's face while Gabriel and I shared a sad smile. Our mother used to read this to us almost every night. My brother squeezed my hand as we both looked back on old memories. Harry's confused voice broke us out of our reverie.

"What's it about?" Hermione began reading the story for Harry's benefit. I tuned the story out, I already knew what it was about and I couldn't allow myself to delve into the past, not again. I had to keep myself sharp, on my toes. Now, what was I missing? I looked back at the cluttered mess all around us, discreetly turning pages behind Lovegood as he was absorbed in the memory. A blank page sat inside a typewriter, ready to have fresh words of rebellion printed on them but it looked wrinkled and stained, as if Lovegood had tried to bring himself to write but couldn't. Why not? He had been pretty active a few weeks ago. What changed?

"I still don't quite understand, Mr. Lovegood," Harry said in the background when Hermione finished reading the story, a crease appearing between his eyebrows. Lovegood glanced around at the mess in the room and rummaged for paper. When he finally found a clean sheet, he laid it on the table in front of us and drew a straight vertical line with a pencil.

"The Elder Wand, the most powerful wand on earth," he said shortly before drawing a circle on the line, close to the bottom. "The Resurrection Stone, to bring back loved ones from the dead," he continued, drawing a triangle to enclose the circle and line in. It looked exactly like the mark in Hermione's book, the symbol Harry described on Ignotus Peverell's grave and Grigorivich's shop, not to mention Lovegood's necklace. "All together, they make the Deathly Hallows, they make one...Master of Death," he finished eerily. We all looked at each other anxiously.

A moving picture caught my eye and turned discretely towards it, I noticed it was a newspaper clipping of Harry's face, staring at the photographer with grave eyes. Next to the picture, Undesirable No. 1 posters of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Gabriel and I, with the contact information circled at the bottom.