Death Eater Spawn

Forgiveness

As the weeks passed, I began to get used to having Slughorn teach me. His little Slug Club meetings weren't all bad, the only downside was having to sit next to Hermione at dinner.
She didn't really like me, but she didn't want to sit next to the boys in the group, as most of them were stuck up prats. Harry was always invited to the gatherings, but he never showed up, which I was happy about.
Hiding my dark mark was actually easier than I thought it was going to be. I simply stole some bandages from the hospital wing, and wrapped up my forearm, underneath my clothes.
That way, if someone sees it, I can just say that I hurt my arm.

Draco's swagger from the first week of school has gone. I've had to watch him sink into a shrunken mess, and there's nothing I can do about it. As I promised Lord Voldemort, that I wouldn't interfer, with whatever Draco was up to.
Without me and Draco's weekly meetings, and without the DA, I had begun to get rather lonely.
I even began spending a lot of time in the owlery, as the views of the castle ground from up there, were stunning. Which helped to keep my mind off things.
And when there was no one else there, it was a great place to study. Which is something I've been doing a lot of, as the amount of homework, in my OWL year was very heavy.

I was drafting a letter to send to Narcissa, which was hard, as I didn't want to make her worry about Draco, when my solitude was interupted.
Harry stumbled up the steps into the owlery, and I shoved the letter quickly into my pocket.
"Oh, hello. Sending a letter?" He asked.
"No... Yes" I answered honestly.
"I wish I had someone to send a letter to. I used to write to my Godfather, but now..."
"The only person I write to is Mrs Malfoy, I'm not exactly very popular at the moment either"
"Unlucky you. She is as bad as that husband of hers"
"You're wrong Harry. Narcissa is very nice when you get to know her. She is the only mother figure I've ever known, and she is kind to me... But Lucius, will never be a father figure to me father".

"How was your summer?" Harry asked.
I shrugged. "Not as bad as last year. What about you?".
"Same as you. I spent most of my summer this year, with Ron, away from the Dursley's"
"That's good. You're lucky to have a friend like him"
"Yeah... That has always puzzled me. How come you and Luna aren't that close? Don't you share a bedroom?"
"We do. I guess me and Luna are just different people, which is why we never got close. We get on though, if we have to do partner work in class, I will always go with her"
"I see... Hermione says you're part of the Slug Club"
"Haha, yes I am. And you are too, if you ever showed up"
"I'd rather not"
"Honestly, they're not all bad"
"Make any new friends there?"
"No"
"Exactly".

Harry walked over to where a group of owls were nesting, and began to stroke a beautiful white one. I clicked my fingers, and my own owl Peace, flew over to me, pecking my shoulder affectionatly.
"I thought you had a cat" commented Harry, raising an eyebrow.
"I do. But I have an owl as well. This is Peace" I introduced.
"I didn't think you were allowed more than one pet"
"You're not. The Malfoy's bought him for me, last Christmas, and got permission from the Ministry, to let me have an owl, as well as a cat. So that I could send letters to them"
"So spoiled, having two pets".
Harry smiled and winked at me, causing me to let out a grin, I'd been suppressing.

"Harry, you know what I said last year" I said.
"The bit about us not being friends?" replied Harry.
"No. Well, yes. But no... Do you remember when I said that I'd never forgive you, for what happened to me at the Ministry... well, I was lying. I've already forgiven you. As it wasn't your fault anyway. It was mine.
I mean, it's not like you asked me to save your life... But, I'm glad that I did. We need you Harry. You are the only one who can stop him, so we need you alive".
Harry sighed, and gave me a sympathetic smile.
"Thank you. It hurt when you said that you would never forgive me. It's nice to know, that you didn't mean it... And I forgive you as well, for what happened to Sirius".
"Thanks"
"Don't mention it".

"You know the Malfoy's well, don't you?" Quizzed Harry.
I stiffened, unsure of what he was going to ask next.
"I know them quite well, yes. Why?" I asked.
"I don't suppose you know what Draco is up to, do you?"
"No. I'm afraid that I don't. Sorry to dissappoint you"
"So he is up to something then, you just don't know what it is?"
"Just drop it Harry"
"I know he's up to something bad Zoe. I just wish I could prove it"
"What would proving it solve? Please Harry, just leave it alone. You have no idea what he is going through, so just drop the matter".

An awkward silence passed between us, and we both ended up staring out the glass-less window, watching the owls.
"I've had a thought" said Harry quietly.
"What?" I questioned, turning back to face him.
"Neither of us get many letters, right? So why don't we write to each other?"
"Because we are both right here"
"No, but listen. The owls enter each morning, and we never get any post. So why don't we send letters to each other? It can be trivial stuff. Like how our days were, or how many detentions we got, or how much homework we got. It can be anything"
"That's not a bad idea. It would make us look more popular, if we get lots of letters. And it would put some fun back in our lives, especially mine, as my OWLs are stressing me out like crazy".

"So, you want to do it?" Harry asked.
"Yes. But lets only talk about happy stuff. Not the current situation of the world. We have enough depressing stuff to be getting on with, and we don't need it in our letters as well" I replied.
"Only jolly stuff, right. This is going to be fun"
"It's a stupid idea, invented by two lonely weirdo's... But yes, it is going to be fun".