Unplanned Liars • Draco Malfoy

3. Master of Distraction

On the next day Draco gave me a fake Galleon we later used to communicate each other really fast, what he found necessary. If a messege showed up, the Galleon would start changing its size, so we'd feel it in our pockets.

When I firstly asked Draco about his ideas on Dumbledore (though I still wished he would somehow get out of this), he said he "had a plan", though I knew he didn't. I could read him like an open book. However, it changed one evening. We were sitting in the common room which was quite empty, Draco by the fire, me a bit farther by a table.

"We're going to Hogsmeade next weekend, right?" he asked suddenly, while I was busy with my Transfiguration essay.

"Yeah, so what?" I said dismissively, realising I wrote the same word twice and lazily taking out my wand to correct it.

"We must go to Three Broomsticks," he mumbled, looking at the fireplace.

"Umm... Yeah?" I replied, still not looking up from my essay.

"Aurora, don't you understand?!" he said angrily and with the corner of my eye I saw him stand up and walk up to me. He suddenly put his hand under my chin and forced me to look at him.

"What?" I panted, shocked because of his reaction.

"I know how to finish Dumbledore. I know. Do you understand? I finally know," it looked like he was really happy, though he wasn't smiling. His face was showing some kind of obsession. I freed my chin from his hand.

"It is great, Draco, but you have to think it out well and..."

"I've thought it out, Aurora," he said, sitting opposite me, "I just... I need a back-up."

"I promised to help you, so I will," I replied, but fear came down my spine, "but it isn't anything stupid, right?"

"No! What do you think? I'm going to go to his office and duel him? I'll tell you later, and not here, it isn't safe," he whispered, his face inches from mine.

"Alright, alright..." I sighed and looked back at my essay, quill still in my hand.

Suddenly Draco touched it.

"It'll turn out well, I'm telling you."

I looked at him sceptically, but nodded. His face, lit by the fire, was even paler than usual and he had big shadows under his eyes. I knew he wasn't probably sleeping at all, and most of the time he spent in the Room of Requirement, mending a Vanishing Cabinet. From what he told me I knew that exactly the same one was in Borgin and Burke's, and this was how Draco wanted to smuggle Death Eaters into school.

I sighed. I wasn't sure of whatever Draco had been planning. Voldemort meant him to die in the attempt, so it could not have been this easy.

"I'll help you if you promise me something," I said suddenly. He looked at me, stunned.

"What?"

"That you'll finally get some sleep. You're a shadow of a man, have you seen yourself?"

Draco looked away.

"I don't have time for sleeping nowadays," he said quietly.

"Draco," I said sternly and it seemed to have done it. I looked at my essay once again and found it finished.

"Right, now we're both going to sleep, get it?" I asked, putting the essay in my bag. Draco merely nodded and I took off to my dormitory.

Next day brought two things: loads of snow and a mysterious letter for me. During breakfast I watched as my owl soared towards me, leaving me two letters. One of them was clearly from my parents, but the second one was in a snowy white envelope and had a magnificent stamp with a letter 'M' on it. I recognised it after a moment of examination - only the Malfoys used such stamps. I hid the letter from Draco's view. It was weird that his mother - because who else, if his father was in Azkaban - was writing directly to me, because usually she passed me any information by Draco. I opened both letters in my dormitory.