[4] UNREQUITED ENEMIES ━ Draco Malfoy

06. I'm Here

SIX I'M HERE

     Xander received a letter for the first time in months. The owl flew in through one of the high windows in the Room of Requirement and dropped the envelope on Xander's lap just as he awoke before flying out of the room before Xander could even get the envelope in his grasp.

"Mail? Who's it from?" Seamus, who had pointed out the owl, asked as he walked over to where the dark-haired boy was still rubbing sleep from his eyes. His tan hands picked up the envelope as he observed it, looking for any sign of who it could have been from. The only signifier of whomever the sender could be was the black wax stamp that kept it sealed.

"Oi!" some seventh year Slytherin piped up, "That's the Malfoy family crest! What are you doin' getting mail from the Malfoys?"

Xander looked at the crest before he ripped open the envelope without a moment's hesitation, "No, there's no way. There's no way he wrote me."

"What's it say?" Neville joined the conversation as everyone crowded around him while he read.

Xander,

     I could get crucioed the moment anyone finds out I am writing to someone, let alone someone at Hogwarts so I hope you understand the risk I am taking to send this to you. I don't even know why I'm risking such a thing to help you, but perhaps I owe you. You tried to save me from my fate when no one else could, your belief in me meant more than anything and I wish you knew how sorry I am that things are happening this way. Me saving you last summer couldn't possibly be enough to repay your faith in me, so I am writing to you now. The Dark Lord has been using my manor as a meeting place of sorts, all traitors with information on the whereabouts of Harry Potter are being locked and tortured here. It's sick and I can only bear it for so much longer. I hope you will use this information in a way that I am too cowardly to do myself. For me, to go against the Dark Lord would be to go against my family, but it is not the same for you. You have the freedom to choose, to fight for what you think is right. I have the same choice, I know, but I am not brave enough to choose the right one. Please do what I cannot. The one you're looking for is here, do with that what you will. I am not asking you to risk your life for me, I owe you enough already, but I cannot save her for you.

Draco

"I need to go," Xander swallowed as he looked up at Neville. "I have to, I can't leave her there. I know there are others, they need help."

"Well, we're coming with you," Seamus commented.

Dean nodded, "You're not going alone, not somewhere so dangerous."

Xander shook his head, "I'll need your help and cover to get out of here, but I must go to the manor alone. If we all get caught or... or killed, there's no telling what's going to happen to everyone here. We're no use to the cause if we're all dead. I have to do this alone. I'm sorry."