Becoming Beta

Chapter 11

Pup,

You'll be doing the Beta Ceremony before the next full moon. Your mother will be taking you out of school that week. It coincides with Halloween, and you'll be spending the full moon with the pack. Your mother sends her love.

F.G.

Draco had just finished the missive from Fenrir and crumpled it up when Blaise sat next to him in the Great Hall for breakfast. It had been several days since he had cornered Granger on the fifth floor and he was getting itchy for her kisses again.

"Who's the letter from, Draco?" Blaise asked, piling his plate with eggs and toast.

Draco glanced at him, trying to decide how much to confide in who was supposed to be his best friend. He couldn't tell him about being a werewolf, not yet. Blaise wouldn't understand, and he couldn't stand it if he started looking at him with horror. Or worse, sympathy.

"Just an associate of my father," he says as imperiously as he could. Draco pulled out his wand and muttered an Incendio at the scrap of paper, burning it. Blaise just raised an eyebrow at him.

"What are your plans for this afternoon?" Blaise asked him. It was a Saturday, and not a Hogsmeade weekend. The weather was still holding nicely, which was good since Slytherin had Quidditch practice before lunch today. Blaise was a Chaser, and after having perused the schedule closely, Draco discovered to his surprise that none of the Slytherin games fell in or around a full moon. That meant he could still play as Seeker this year, something he was quite pleased with. This year was crazy enough without having to give up Quidditch as well.

He told Blaise he planned to study that afternoon, but in reality he wanted to find Granger and snog her senseless again. Then maybe he could work on the damned Vanishing Cabinet that Fenrir told him about. He had found it in the Come and Go Room, so that wasn't the problem, but he couldn't figure out how to make it work again. He needed to scour the library for books on Vanishing Cabinets and see if he could find anything. If not, he would be searching Malfoy Manor's library come Christmas hols. He needed to get that cabinet fixed before the end of the school year, and the earlier the better. He was glad he hadn't been Marked, because it meant he didn't have to face the Dark Lord unless he was at home.

Draco was glad that Fenrir had sent word about his mother. He was still writing her on an almost daily basis and she was replying, which gave him a small measure of relief. He hadn't heard any rumblings in the Daily Prophet about the Dark Lord, and he couldn't decide if that was a good or a bad thing. Maybe it meant that the Dark Lord wasn't gaining as much influence? Or it meant the Dark Lord was gaining influence more quietly than Draco had expected. Wasn't that a scary thought? Draco shook his head, clearing himself of those thoughts. He looked across the hall to the Gryffindor table and caught Granger staring at him. He smirked at her. Was that a blush? She looked down at her tea, dropping his gaze. He laughed to himself and stood with Blaise to head down to their dorm to change for Quidditch practice.

Being on a broom again was glorious. Draco swept around the Quidditch pitch, higher than the rest of the players, enjoying the feel of the wind in his face and the broom gripped between his legs. He had grown so much that Quidditch uniform was uncomfortably tight. He would need a new one from Madam Malkin's before the next game. He was glad his mother had insisted on several sets of robes in larger sizes - how plebeian would it be if he had to wear robes that were too small? He shuddered at the thought. He did another sweep of the Quidditch pitch, looking for the practice snitch his captain had released. Then, he ran through a few drills and feints. The first Quidditch match of the season was Slytherin against Hufflepuff and it was next weekend. He knew Slytherin would crush them.