The Girl Who Lived...Through Draco Malfoy

The Girl Who Lived...Through Draco Malfoy - Chapter 32

Delia and I went over everything we knew about Voldemort and the Horcruxes. Our first target was the locket that had been taken from the cave.
"I think we need to do some research." I said, sitting back in my chair; Delia nodded.
"We can't go back to Hogwarts." she paused in thought. "What about Flourish and Blotts?" I shrugged.
"It's a start." Delia and I dressed in jeans and sweaters with the hoods pulled up to hide our faces, but not draw suspicion.
"Ready?" she asked, securing her wand in her sweater pocket. I nodded, doing the same. While I had been locked up in Malfoy manor, Delia had learned how to apparate. I grabbed her hand and everything around us started spinning into a blur. Then it all stopped and we were standing in Diagon Alley. No one paid us any attention as we made our way to Flourish and Blotts. The alley seemed different than usual. It was like someone had sent a tornado down it, papers scattered over the ground and the store fronts dirty and unkempt. One of the papers caught my eye: The Daily Prophet. It was a picture of Umbridge, that sickening smile plastered on her face. But it wasn't her smile that caught my eye, it was what was around her neck.
I looked up and my heart dropped. I grabbed Delia's arm, pulling her into the alley to our right.
"Deatheaters." I whispered. The two Deatheaters I'd recognized from my time in Malfoy Manor walked past. I let out the breath I'd been holding in and turned to Delia. "I know where the necklace is." she looked at me confused. "Come on, let's go back and I'll explain everything." she nodded and in less than a minute we were back in our cabin. For the first time in a long time, I was excited.
"Okay, now where is the necklace?" she asked.
"Umbridge has it." I smiled.
"And how do you know this?" she raised her eyebrows.
"I saw her picture on The Daily Prophet. She was wearing it." I could see the sides of her mouth begin to form a smile.
"So now we know where it is. All we have to do is figure out how to get it." Although that was easier said than done, I was still excited that we knew where it was.

Umbridge worked in the Ministry of Magic so we had to figure out a way to get in there. We couldn't just walk in and ask for the locket, but if we disguised ourselves as people who worked there, maybe we could get the necklace from Umbridge. It was risky, but of we pulled it off, that would mean one more Horcrux down and only four left.
We prepared a batch of poly juice potion. The thought was to knock out two Ministry workers and assume their positions. Delia and I apparated a block down from the entrance of the Ministry. The only way to get into the Ministry is to flush yourself in through an underground bathroom. Sounds gross, right?
We waited, watching as people walked by. It was easy to spot Ministry officials on the street; they were rigid and usually had sad expressions on their faces. We found the perfect candidates, knocking them out and dragging them into an empty alley nearby. Delia and I drank our poly juice potion, changing clothes as soon as we were fully changed. Delia was a woman I would never recognize on the street. She had plain features and plain brown hair and eyes. I wasn't much different with dark hair and brown eyes.
"Are you ready, Lauren Milstone?" I asked Delia, using her new name.
"Yes I am, Mary Cattermole." we left the alley and walked to the bathrooms. We made sure to walk separately, acting as if we didn't know each other. The bathroom was full of people and we had to stand in line, each stall with a separate one. I finally reached the front, stepping into the stall and closing the door behind me. It was just a toilet with a pull chord overhead. I stepped into the bowl and pulled the chord. I stepped out of a fireplace in the Ministry, Delia stepping out of one two fireplaces away. There were people emerging from fireplaces all along the walls, some running to their destinations and others stopping to talk with acquaintances. I didn't stop to talk to Delia. I didn't have time to. I was stopped before I could reach the elevators.
"Mary Cattermole?" I nodded, my heart beating rapidly. I was staring into the eyes of a Death Eater. He looked down at a piece of paper then back at me. "You're wanted for questioning." I wanted to throw up. He reached into my pocket and pulled out my wand then grabbed my arm, dragging me to an elevator. I looked back at Delia who looked terrified. Before I could tell her anything, I was pulled into the lift and the door closed. We started going down, the Death Eater's hand still grasping my arm.
"Why am I wanted for questioning?" I asked.
"Every Muggle born has to be questioned before the Muggle Born Registration Commission." I felt a wave of relief as I realized they really thought I was Mary Cattermole. And then I felt a wave of panic wash over me when I realized I would be trapped in questioning instead of being able to look for Umbridge. The lift stopped and the doors opened. He pulled me down a hallway that was dimly lit and smelled like mildew. It ended at a pair of closed doors where we stopped. I could hear talking coming from inside.
"You have been found guilty of stealing a wizard's wand and tainting the wizarding bloodline." someone yelled and the doors flung open. Two men were dragging a flailing man past us. He looked at me, tears running down his face and shouting that it was unfair. "Your turn." the Death Eater smirked at me. We walked into the room which looked like a round auditorium with seats stacked up above me. "Sit." he pushed me into a chair in the middle of the room then left. I looked up and had to fight a smile.
"Mary Cattermole, you have been accused of theft." Umbridge sat above me, a small brown haired woman by her side and a group of Ministry officials sitting to the side of the room. "A wand was taken from you. Where did you get it?" she asked.
"I bought it with my mom in Diagon Alley." I responded.
"Only Witches and Wizards may buy wands. I ask you again, which wizard did you steal this wand from?" her eyes could have burned a hole right through me.
"I told you, I bought it when I was twelve. It chose me!" I felt my voice raise. How could she treat people like this?
"Nonsense, wands only chose witches and wizards. You are not a witch." suddenly she slumped over her desk. A tall, scary looking man appeared out of nowhere and the brown haired woman sitting beside Umbridge snatched the locket from her neck.
"Come with us!" the tall man urged me to follow him; the woman joining us. We ran down the hall and into the lift, quickly rising to the main level. "Did you get it?" the man asked. There was something weird about him. About his voice.
"Got it." the woman replied. I knew their voices, but from where? The lift stopped and we stepped out, trying to act as natural as possible. A man I recognized from a picture in Mary's wallet walked up to us, his clothes soaked.
"Go home, Mary." the tall man ordered. "Get your kids and get out of the country." I knew that voice. A purple scar began to appear on the man's forehead which confirmed my suspicions.
"Harry, it's me." I whispered. His eyes grew wide and I could see them turning back to his green color. The poly juice potion was wearing off.
"We have to go!" the brown haired woman urged. Someone was running towards us; Delia, her face terrified.
"Go! Now!" she yelled. There were a group of Death Eaters chasing after her. We ran towards the fireplaces which were closing. Harry turned to us and we all grabbed each other's hands, apparting out of the Ministry. We sped through the air, pausing in front of the Order of the Pheonix house then speeding until we stopped in a clearing in the woods.
"What happened?" Harry asked, his face completely back to normal.
"Yaxley followed us. We couldn't go back to Grimmauld Place." Hermione rushed to Ron's side. "He's been splinched!" his arm had a chunk missing. Harry grabbed Hermione's bag, retrieving a small vile and handing it to Hermione. She poured it on his arm, the skin growing back in seconds.
"What were you doing in the Ministry?" Harry turned to Delia and I.
"We were looking for the locket." I explained.
"You shouldn't have done that. It's too dangerous." I raised an eyebrow.
"But you can?" he opened his mouth to talk, but I continued. "They kept me locked up for months. There's no way I'm just going to sit back and let you do all the hard work." he shook his head then turned away, pulling out his wand. He began casting protective enchantments, Delia following his lead. I had lost my wand in the Ministry. It had been taken from me and in all the confusion I forgot to get it back. Without it I felt naked and defenseless.
"Let's destroy this thing." Hermione said, holding out the locket. Harry nodded, placing the locket on the ground. They tried spell after spell, but nothing worked. It couldn't be killed with a spell.
"We need to do some research and figure out how to destroy this thing." Hermione said, picking up the locket. "And we should take turns wearing it." she draped it around her neck. "I'll take it first."
We set up a tent Hermione had in her bag. It was big enough for all of us, but I found it hard to sleep. I couldn't shut off my brain and I just kept thinking of where the other Horcruxes could be. Then, as I sat in my bed staring at the side of the tent, Draco's face popped into my mind. I couldn't help wondering what he was doing and if he was thinking about me. I shook my head. Why would he be thinking about me? He's too busy being a Death Eater to think of me, I thought. I couldn't think of him. I had too much on my plate to worry about him.