The Death Eater [HARRY POTTER]

17

Calla imagined that she looked rather dreadful when she returned to school the day after her initiation. Her arm stung, her muscles were sore, and she had a horrible migraine from fighting off the Dark Lord's mental prodding the entire evening. She knew that she didn't look half as bad as some of the other death eaters, Calla had quickly learned that the Dark Lord had not been pleased that Wormtail of all people had been the one to seek him out and help him cast the spell that returned him to a human body. Calla had not been the only one to be touched with the torture curse that night.

However she had lived to see the light of morning, so Calla was willing to do her best not to alert anyone of what had happened the night before. Especially Draco, who had been sending her troubled glances all throughout breakfast. Of course Draco had been with Calla when she had first received her father's patronus, the one he had sent to her telling her that the coast was clear, and that they needed to go to Malfoy Manor quickly. He had also been the one to try to stop her, even though she had warned him that it was something that she would need to do.

"Blaise," Calla called on the young man that was sitting in the front row when he raised his hand to answer her question. Of course she wasn't showing any favoritism, something that every student could clearly see. Blaise had simply been the only one to raise his hand to respond.

"It is said that the Ancient Romans believed the first steel was created when a red haired boy urinated on some heated iron," Blaise answered evenly. "However wizard historians believe that it was the work of an Alchemist named Cornelius, who was attempting to make a stronger metal so that the Holy Roman Empire could branch out further across Europe."

Calla nodded easily, spinning around and flicking her wrist so that the words that Blaise had said wrote themselves neatly on the blackboard behind her.

"Ten points to Slyhtherin, Mr. Zabini. This will be on the exam, students so do try to write it down if you can. Now, as we were supposed to have read in the textbook, historians have traced the precise science of Alchemy as far back as Ancient Rome. Furthermore, it was not just the invention of steel that we believe was a result of their work. Can anyone tell me what other legends might have come from the practice of Alchemy?"

This time several students raised their hand and Calla was more than willing to call on the pretty Ravenclaw girl that sat near the front of her class.

"Miss. Chang?" Calla called, raising her eyebrow challengingly. Of course there were other examples of Ancient Alchemy in their textbook, but turning iron into steel was by far the most easily spotted example. She was curious as to what Cho might have unearthed in her reading.

"If I remember correctly, Professor Snape, the same Historian that believed Cornelius was the one to create steel believed that some of the Greek legends were also examples of early Alchemy; namely the legend of Midas, the king that could turn anything into gold simply by laying his hands on it."

Calla nodded encouragingly, flicking her hand again so that a piece of chalk would spell out Midas on the board, right along side the word Steel.

"Anything else?" Calla asked, and she had to smile when three more hands raised.

*******

"Hello, Draco Malfoy," Calla didn't even need her enhanced senses to know who it was that walked through the door. Especially as it was rather late at night, and she had imagined that Draco would come for her eventually. She had been successfully avoiding him all day, keeping students after class to talk further about what they had learned about, speaking to Minerva over dinner, even asking her father to brew her something for the pain after dinner. Of course calla didn't really need the potion, she hadn't even drank it, but it got her out of her classroom. Calla had imagined that she would be safe going back to her office after curfew, as Draco hadn't been one to break curfew since he'd gotten sent into the Forbidden Forest as punishment for sneaking out after Potter, trying to get him into trouble.

Calla wouldn't even have lingered in her office, she knew that it was a bad idea the minute she sat don in her chair to begin grading papers, but her students had submitted their assignments in her third class of the day and she had promised the lot of them that they would have them back in their hands, graded, by the time they had class the next day

And Calla had never been one to disappoint her students.

"Hello, Calla," Draco stepped further into the room and walked around so that he knew that Calla could see him. Then he placed himself so that he was sitting in the chair across from her at her desk. "You look particularly exhausted today."

Calla smiled thinly, the look on her face assuring Draco that she was not amused with his sass. However it was the least of her concerns because she was, in fact, exhausted and if she didn't get her grading done quickly she imagined that she would fall asleep at her desk. Which was not something she wanted Minerva walking in on when the woman came to find her tomorrow morning. Lord knows what Minerva would say, probably something along the lines of calla taking better care of herself. Or perhaps she would mention the haggard appearance Calla had today, and begin to ask questions. That would also be less than ideal.

"Thank you Draco Malfoy, you are, as always, charming." Calla returned to her work and allowed Draco to sit there until he got around to saying what he needed to say. Draco wasn't the sort of boy to keep his opinions to himself, so Calla knew that it was only a matter of time before he got up the courage to do what he came here to do.

"Did the Dark Lord hurt you?" Calla felt her stomach drop as the thought of the dark Lord getting his hands on Draco, thought of the Dark Lord shuffling through the boy's mind and seeing this memory. Not only could it put Calla's place in the Dark Lord's army at risk, but it could also put Draco at risk. The Dark Lord was not one to forgive and forget if someone questioned his actions. Calla had seen that well enough the night before. Which is why Calla put on her most adoring look, ensuring that her green eyes were shining with fondness, before she looked up at Draco through her eyelashes.

"The Dark Lord would never hurt me Draco. He would never intentionally hurt anyone. He's simply trying to make a better world for us all to live in when we grow up." Draco looked rather sick at Calla's words, and that was how she knew that they had done their job. Draco scooted back, his chair making a hideous screeching sound, and then he stood up.

"I see," a blank mask had fallen over his face and all of the concern that he had been showing her only a moment ago was gone. "Then I'm sorry for wasting your time, Professor."

Draco turned on the heel of his flawlessly shined black dress shoe, and stalked out of the room without another word. Calla wanted to call him back, to explain to him why she was doing what she was doing, but she knew it wouldn't be safe. Draco was a good boy, a victim of his parents more than anything else. And Calla did not savor the thought of what this war would do to him by the end of it. But Calla couldn't let herself to think about that right then. She bowed her head down toward her grading once more and tried her hardest to focus on her grading once more. Calla didn't even realize that on her other hand, the one she wasn't using to write with, her thumb was stroking the ring that Draco had given her.

There were dark times ahead, and Calla knew that she couldn't protect everyone. But she would protect all who she could, and she desperately hoped that she would be able to save Draco.