Hunting For The Sun

CHAPTER THREE

Rae

I fiddled with the cuffs of my robes as we crossed the bridge into the Death Eaters´ private area. No one stole from there. You´d have to be insane. I bit my lip, and trotted after Harry as he marched over the bridge and through the high spiked gate. No one stopped us, and I began to relax slightly, although I was sure that my heartbeat could be heard all over the sector. Harry looked slightly different. He´d taken off his glasses, and that odd scar was gone. It even seemed that his eyes were a new colour.

`Hurry up,´ he barked. I jumped, and jogged to be alongside him. Then quieter he said `Where´s the main building?´

`I said I knew the city. This isn´t the city,´ I hissed.

`You mean that we´re in the Death Eater Sector, and we´ve no idea where we´re going?´ Harry demanded.

`Precisely,´ I nodded smugly, glad to have proved my point.

Harry swore poisonously, then continued. I couldn´t help looking around. The buildings here were lovely. I couldn´t ever remember seeing such wealth.

`How do you feel about being a spy for the Rebellion?´ Harry asked, pausing before crossing a street.

`A spy?´ I asked, enchanted but also scared.

`Yes. I´ll recruit you into the Death Eaters, and you can help us from in there. You aren´t alone. We have many others. I´ll try to link you up with Granger. She´s one of our spies.´ He didn´t look at me at all while he was saying this. `That looks like a good place to start,´ he said, pointing discreetly at a huge marble building.

We crossed a cobbled street to the gate, and Harry looked distant for a minute. `This is the place,´ he said, more to himself than to me. He strolled up to the gates and shoved his forearm out to the Death Eater stood there. She nodded, and he went through. I gulped down the snakes writhing in my stomach. I held out my forearm, and waited the agonising second before I was allowed through to the square with its tall pillar of marble, crowned with a skull-and-snake.

Harry led me to a door and held it open for me.

`She´s come up from Kent. Can she stay here?´ he said to a man behind a desk.

`Got you a floozy, eh?´ the man said, leering at me.

`There´ve got to be some perks to the job,´ Harry laughed.

`What´s her name?´

`Angitia Rossini,´ Harry said promptly.

`Foreign bird?´

`Something like that,´ Harry evaded.

I found it rather insulting to be spoken about like a piece of meat in a shop window, and would have spoken out but my throat was stuck together.

`She can stay in your room, if you want, Mr Baddock,´ the man said, looking in a giant leather-bound book.

`She isn´t going to be staying in anyone else´s,´ Harry grinned, and put an arm around my shoulders. It was oddly tight, like he was begging me to keep quiet. `Have a good day, sir.´

`You too.´

We went off down a side corridor, and once we were well away I unstuck my tongue from the roof of my mouth. `Who´s Mr Baddock?´

`The person he thinks I am,´ Harry answered, looking down a corridor turning off this one.

A suspicion hit me. `You never wanted me to guide you, did you?´ I frowned.

`No,´ Harry replied without a moment´s hesitation.

`You already know this place like the back of your hand, don´t you?´

`Yes.´

`You wanted me to be a spy all along,´ I accused.

`You could say that,´ Harry shrugged, steering me down a corridor and up some stairs. `Malfoy will want to see you. He´s like that.´

`What do you mean?´

`He likes to be on first-name terms with all the girls,´ Harry said, saying much more with his tone than his words.

`The fat lecher!´ I hissed, mentally adding it to my list of reasons to hate him.

`Not really,´ Harry said mildly. `You´ll like him. He isn´t a lecher. He´s a charming man. I hate him, but not many people do.´

`You´ve got another person who hates him here!´ I said heatedly. `He´s responsible for all the pain in my life. I could never like him.´

`We´ll see,´ Harry smiled.

`Don´t you want us all to hate him?´ I said, stopping.

`Why should I? Hate just interrupts business. You´ll work better if you aren´t trying to kill him.´

He knocked on a door, and there were sounds of movement inside. A tall young woman with auburn hair opened the door. She took one look at him and smiled.

`Come in,´ she said, stepping aside.

Harry and I walked into the neat little room. Harry sprawled into a chair, and I stood awkwardly by the door.

`Well, well. Harry Potter,´ she said quietly, sitting on another chair and lacing her fingers over her stomach. I gave a strangled little noise. Surely no one was meant to know who he was?

`Hermione Granger,´ Harry acknowledged her. `This is Rae. She´s joining us. We´ve called her Angitia Rossini.´

`Clever,´ Hermione smiled. `Snake goddess. You are getting better, you know.´

Harry coughed and blushed. `Rae, this is Hermione. We call her Garnet Micelles here. Don´t forget that.´

I shook my head, finding myself unable to speak again. Why me? This was far more than I had ever asked for. I just wanted to kill Malfoy. Preferably in some unlikely situation, meaning that I could go through life with the intention of killing him, but without actually doing the dirty deed.

`You can stay in this room. I take it you don´t want to sleep with Harry? He snores,´ Hermione told me. I shrugged and nodded, not wanting to seem too difficult.

`Harry, bugger off.´

Harry nodded and scooted away. I stared after him, surprised. Did people just order the Leader around everywhere else? Was it standard?

`Well, we´d better take you to Malfoy. Just promise you won´t hurt him,´ Hermione smiled, then yelped as an owl dropped a letter onto her head. She caught the heavy black parchment and glared after the owl, which swooped away elegantly. She flicked the letter over and read the curly silver script. `Looks like he already knows. Can´t get anything past him,´ she sniffed. She flung the letter at me, and I snatched at it clumsily. I´ve never been much of a good catch.

`Miss Rossini,´ it read. `I have heard that you arrived with Baddock just recently. I would be most honoured if you would come and say hello.´ I couldn´t read that signature, but the heady scent of pure evil hanging around the letter was enough. Malfoy. I was actually going to meet him. I wondered if I was in danger. Harry may have underestimated how well known I was. I was a fighter in the war. I think I was nine or ten, but I begged to join in. I killed three men. I was proud, not ashamed. I didn´t do it with much panache, but I did the job. I pushed one off a balcony, crushed one´s skull with an iron bar, and trapped the other in a burning building. At the time I´m relating now I couldn´t remember it. I was so distressed that they had to charm the memory away. I´ve got it back now, along with many other things I once had. At the time I am talking about I just knew I was quite a familiar face. One that was often seen on `Wanted´ posters.

I looked questioningly at Hermione. She nodded, and pulled up the hood of her robe. I did the same, and tucked the letter into my pocket. She led us out and along a maze of corridors. They were all wide and tall with pillars and buttresses, all vaulted. The walls were made of a light honey-coloured stone and decorated with fine tapestries and coats of arms. Great carved mahogany doors stood, some ajar, some closed, along the walls at intervals. Voices could be heard through some, and others were silent. I couldn´t help but read all the coats of arms as we passed. I saw many great families on them. None were good families, though.

We came to one that was larger than the others, and set over a particularly beautiful door. It was made in solid silver and malachite. It showed a green dragon with tiny silver scales curling against a silver background. In malachite underneath was the name `Malfoy´.

Sure enough, Hermione walked over to the door and knocked. It was answered with a posh-voiced `Come in.´

Hermione nodded to me, and entered. I followed, holding my breath. We were in a short hallway of bookshelves with an arched ceiling floored with marble and leading onto a very large, square-ish study. Bookshelves stood along the back wall, where an arch of marble led to a room hidden in the shadows. An immense picture window with wide square panes took up most of the left wall, with a green silk-cushioned window seat underneath. On the right wall stood a glass cabinet full of swords and goblets and things like that. Directly ahead of us stood a massive desk, covered with a sort of green felt. It had clawed feet and carved legs, and was covered with neat piles of black parchment, green quills and little inkpots. A few ledgers stood open with long lists of names and figures down their foot-long pages. A delicate glass vase held one white rose, and a little crystal ash tray was filled with pencil sharpenings. Behind the desk was a high-backed chair of mahogany and dark green leather. What was in the chair, however, received much more of m attention than the room.

Although, as you can probably tell, I will never forget the room, I will never forget the first time I saw Malfoy, either. What I saw was important, so pardon me if I talk about him for a long time. When things have a profound effect on one, it is better one includes it in one´s recounting of events. In the chair sat a man, young by the reckoning of this world. He wore a black shirt, undone slightly at the top and a silver tie, loosely knotted. The cuffs were undone, but not rolled back. His skin was so pale it put the white of the rose to shame, and his hair was nearly the same. It hung in a peculiar style for a man of his age. I remember it was cheekbone-length, and sort of curving. It was so white-blond as to be almost silver, and he seemed well aware of how good it looked. His eyes were the precise colour of the silver signet ring apparent on his interlaced fingers. He was sort of chiselled, but smooth. I would swear that the paper knife on his desk was just for show, and he opened his envelopes with his cheekbones.

`Garnet,´ he nodded, acknowledging her in a deep, soft, posh voice. `You must be Angitia,´ he said to me. I gulped and nodded. For some strange reason, my heart was pounding like a drum, and my skin tingled. `I´m Draco Malfoy. I´m delighted to meet you.´ He stood, and held out a hand to me. I took it to shake, but he leaned over and kissed my hand. I nearly fell out of my skin.

`Sir,´ I stammered.

`Don´t bother with that,´ he laughed, offering me one of the two seats before his desk. Hermione and I sat down. `So, where did you come from?´

`Kent,´ I remembered.

`Oh. And how are you finding London?´ he smiled, leaning forwards like he really cared.

`It´s quieter than I thought,´ I answered evasively, having no idea what Kent was like to compare.

`Yes, isn´t it?´ he said smugly, leaning back and linking his hands behind his head. `It´s so nice to have everything in order. Why can´t Potter see that?´ He slammed a hand down on his desk, making the crystal vase ring. `He doesn´t know what he´s messing with! He´s wrong, and he´s just wasting lives. If it weren´t for him, all those people we´ve had to kill would never have even heard of the rebellion, and would still be alive today. I don´t want to kill them, but if people know that they´re safe, even more will rebel. We have enough already. These people are starving, and stealing our food. If they were on our side, they could farm their own, and wouldn´t have to steal.´

I tried to think of a problem with that, and other than that I thought they liked to kill really, I couldn´t. If my parents and I had not heard of the rebellion, they would still have been alive. He was right. I cursed myself, snapping all sorts of reasons why that wasn´t true, but it made sense. It was because of Harry that my parents were dead, and Tyger was insane, and Nike was dead. If we weren´t rebels we´d be safe.

But that wasn´t why we did it. We did it because we were standing for what was right. I knew I was stuck, and I had to detach from it. That´s one of the hardest things to do, you know. When you can´t decide between what you´ve been brought up to think and what makes sense for you. I wanted to think about it, but I had to stop. I couldn´t get bogged down. I had a job to do.

`And talking of stealing,´ Malfoy continued hotly. `We´ve lost thousands of Galleons to them over the past year or so! Apparently, if our Seers are correct, three hundred Galleons of that is due to one person!´ He shook his head and stared out of the window for a moment. `One! I know who it is, though,´ he said, a little smugly. `I know her name, I know her age, and I know where she is right now, and when I catch her, I´ll kill her.´

He didn´t seem willing to continue, so Hermione and I sat in silence.

`Oh, sorry,´ he said, turning his attention back to us finally. `It just makes me angry. He doesn´t know he´s doing it, of course, but he is.´

`The rebels seem to think that they´re dying for a good cause,´ I said carefully.

`Yes,´ Draco murmured. `That´s what´s so... tragic, I suppose.´ He gave a nasty grin. `However, it is up to them.´

`Well, who knows? Some are born into it, and never hear your... our cause,´ I said bitterly.

`That maybe so, but who´d listen?´ Draco shrugged. `They´re all brought up to think I´m some kind of monster who likes to kill children. I won´t say that I´m any kind of angel other than possibly a fallen one, but I´m no demon. I´m not the nicest of people, but you´d have to be a psychopath to kill all these unfortunately stupid people.´

`What about the Dark Lord?´ I said.

`Voldemort? Oh he´s out of the picture now. He´s got his concubines and his big castle and the knowledge that I´m hunting Harry Potter to keep him quiet. The rest of the time he just plays with his toes.´

I was shocked. I thought Voldemort was some kind of terrifying warlord person, but I find out that he´s just a figurehead? That´s confusing.

`Poor sod,´ Draco was saying. `Doesn´t have the mind for proper leadership. Can´t do all the sums.´

`I can imagine,´ I said, not really sure how to answer. At that point, Hermione made her excuses and left. I turned back to face Malfoy, totally terrified.

`So, you came here with Baddock, did you?´ he said, resting his elbows on the desk and leaning forward.

`Uh... yes,´ I muttered, looking around distractedly.

`Odd, how you can be with someone for so long and not realise things about them, isn´t it?´ he said, looking at me intently.

I didn´t understand why the question had come out of his previous statement. It seemed so totally unconnected.

`Yes, odd.´

`Mmm,´ he nodded. He sat back, with a snake-like smile playing about his lips. `For instance, these days it seems almost possible to travel the distance from Kent with someone you know well, come to a place and opt to share a room with them without even realising that they´ve been dead for almost ten years.´

My mouth dropped open, and a horrible acid surge in my chest told me that we´d been found out.

`You must forgive me!´ I sputtered. `I had no idea!´ Well, that was true enough, I suppose.

`Really?´ he smiled, but it didn´t look like he believed me. `Also, isn´t it odd how you can lie about who you are, without changing your appearance in the slightest, when your face is on wanted posters all around the city, and turn up in the office of the man responsible, and expect him not to recognise you? Strange times,´ he said, shaking his head.

`Don´t kill me,´ I whimpered, clinging to the arms of the chair and shrinking down into it. `Please don´t kill me.´

`Don´t beg. It demeans you,´ Malfoy said absently.

`I didn´t come here by choice!´ I felt it important that he knew. `I was tricked. I wanted to stay in the sewers like a good little girl. Potter forced me to come!´

He looked interested. `Sewers, eh?´ A nasty grin sprawled across his handsome face. My eyes spread as wide as dinner plates, and I wanted to cry with the unfairness of it all. I had given them all away. `You may be useful after all, Rae.´

`You won´t kill me?´ I said, losing the tension a little.

`No. I won´t,´ he said. `However, you will go to the sewer and collect your belongings. You will be escorted by Death Eaters who will ensure that you stick to my conditions.´

`Conditions?´ I said, getting interested, but still scared.

`Well,´ he said, leaning right over, and muttering conspiratorially. `You have to go down there and tell them all what you´ve done.´

`No!´ I cried. `No! I won´t do it!´

`Do it or die,´ he shrugged, getting up and walking to the window.

I could save my friends, or myself. Who knew what he would do to them anyway? He said he didn´t want to kill them. I longed for some cunning way to save both, but none came.

`May I have one thing? As I think I´ve done you a pretty big service telling you that I do deserve it,´ I said, sounding an awful lot braver than I felt.

`One thing?´

`Will you spare some of them for me?´

`Who would you like me to spare?´ he asked, tilting his head to look up at the curtain rail over the window, his back to me.

`How many?´

He considered it. `Three,´ he said finally.

`Tyger, Rhea and...´ There was no way he would spare Apate. She was too important. `Cloud.´

`Tyger, Rhea and Cloud. I´ll note those down. Make sure that you tell them to say their names when I bring them in.´

`I´ll tell them,´ I said. I felt terrible, but relieved. I would save those I really loved, and the rest would die to save me. To save me, though. I was the one with the shot at safety, glory and acceptance. Who was to say that they wouldn´t all sell me out, had they the chance? The only ones I knew would help me were Cloud, Tyger and Rhea, so I helped them. Of course, there was always the lingering knowledge that most of them would die rather than give us up. But then I had already said where we were hiding, and wasn´t it better that I saved three than none at all?

`Is Potter there?´ Malfoy asked suddenly, turning his head to the side so that I could see his profile, outlined neatly against the white November sky.

`He...´ All his fault all these people are dead. He´s responsible for my parents´ deaths. `Yes he is.´

`Good,´ Malfoy purred. `You have proved yourself to be a worthy person. I´m sorry that they have to die.´ He sounded at least a little sorry. `Do you want to stay with us, or go to some unnamed town in the middle of nowhere?´

`I´ll stay,´ I said, knowing why but telling myself it was to check on my friends.

`I´m sad that I have to make you do this, but they would die stupidly by killing more of my people and themselves. Better just them.´

`But I was converted by your speech!´ I said, seeing a window to save more of them. `Get someone to talk to them, to make them see your point. Then they wouldn´t have to die!´

`Yes,´ he smiled, strolling back across the office, his hands in his pockets. `Why don´t you do it?´

`Me?´ I spluttered.

`To prove that you are one of us, and are not afraid,´ he explained, although it was more of an instruction.

`I´m never afraid!´ I protested hotly.

`Then don´t hide from what you are,´ he urged, turning sideways to loop his legs indolently over the arm of his chair. He picked up a crystal vial, and turned it in the sunlight so that it cast cold rainbows across my face. He examined it closely.

`I can´t hide from who I am. I always know where to find me,´ I snapped.

`Very good,´ he complimented lazily. `I do wonder which house some of you would have been placed in sometimes. Hogwarts was a brilliant place. How I´d love to get hold of the Sorting Hat.´

We all knew about the houses, of course. We had been told.

`What do you think about me?´

`Well, you´re a turncoat.´ I winced visibly. `And you´re looking after number one. You seem pretty intelligent, and you´ll go through whatever to achieve your goals. Slytherin to the core.´

`Is that good or bad?´ I asked.

`Depends who´s side you´re on.´

`I´m on whichever side makes sense at the time,´ I answered.

`Well, while you´re on our side, it´s good to have been a Slytherin. On Potter´s side, they value Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. Personally, I find Slytherins good conversationalists and Ravenclaws useful for plotting and things.´ Although I wouldn´t admit it even to myself, I was glad he knew who I was. It meant that I had a chance at being with him a lot. It wasn´t a voluntary emotion. He just made me feel all tingly inside when I was with him. It was almost definitely lust, but so what? He was obviously intelligent, and he was drop-dead gorgeous, so?

`What do you want me to be?´ I asked, hoping it didn´t sound as flirty as I thought it did.

He gave me an odd look. Uh-oh. `I want you to stay with us, because I think you could be very great.´

`I want to stay as well.´

`You clearly know what´s good for you then,´ he replied briskly. `Now, if you´ll excuse me, I have an escort to arrange and a formal dinner to attend. I will send a servant to make some new quarters for you. I´m sure you don´t want to share a bed with a dead man.´

I laughed, more at the sexy little `I´m the best and I know it´ smile on his face than anything else. I took myself out of the room and leaned against the cold stone wall, savouring the peace.

And that was how I did it. That was how I betrayed all my friends but three. That was how I fell in love with the `other side´. That was how I became who I am today. If you expected a righteous little person, you were mistaken. I take matters into my own hands, as you will see.