ALULA (VOL. 4)

5- slug club

slug club

{1996}

The Burrow

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Alula spent a lot of the last week of the holidays pondering the meaning of Draco's behaviour in Knockturn Alley. What disturbed her most was the satisfied look on her cousin's face as he had left the shop. She didn't want to think the worst of Draco unlike Harry; she wanted it all to be a strange coincidence.

"Yes, I've already agreed it was fishy, Harry," said Hermione a little impatiently. She was sitting on the windowsill in Fred and George's room with her feet up on one of the cardboard boxes and had only grudgingly looked up from her new copy of Advanced Rune Translation. "But haven't we agreed there could be a lot of explanations?"

"He could have just been shopping," Alula suggested.

"Maybe he's broken his Hand of Glory," said Ron vaguely, as he attempted to straighten his broomstick's bent tail twigs. "Remember that shrivelled-up arm Malfoy had?"

"But what about when he said, 'Don't forget to keep that one safe'?" asked Harry for the umpteenth time. "That sounded to me like Borgin's got another one of the broken objects, and Malfoy wants both."

"You reckon?" said Ron, now trying to scrape some dirt off his broom handle.

"Yeah, I do," said Harry. When neither Ron nor Alula nor Hermione answered, he said, "Malfoy's father's in Azkaban. Don't you think Malfoy'd like revenge?"

Ron looked up, blinking.

"Malfoy, revenge? What can he do about it?"

"Draco wouldn't do anything like that." Alula shook her head and returned to tickling Penny.

"That's my point, I don't know!" said Harry, frustrated. "But he's up to something and I think we should take it seriously. His father's a Death Eater and-"

Harry broke off, his eyes fixed on the window behind Hermione, his mouth open. A startling thought had just occurred to him.

"Harry?" said Hermione in an anxious voice. "What's wrong?"

"Your scar's not hurting again, is it?" asked Ron nervously.

"You haven't 'seen' something, have you?" Alula said, worried.

"He's a Death Eater," said Harry slowly. "He's replaced his father as a Death Eater!"

Alula couldn't, no, wouldn't believe that Harry had just said such a thing. Alula knew her cousin, yes, it could be horribly mean, but he wasn't evil. Surely, he would not choose to support Voldemort.

There was a silence; then Ron erupted in laughter. "Malfoy? He's sixteen, Harry! You think You-Know-Who would let Malfoy join?"

"It seems very unlikely, Harry," said Hermione in a repressive sort of voice. "What makes you think?"