Undefined

Chapter 4

The One

Draco was pleased to find that his plan had not faltered. That weekend, as he and Katrina walked to Hogsmeade, he noticed Harry, Weasley, and the Mudblood following them at a distance. He was also pleased to note there seemed a bit of tension between the three as Ron and Hermione gestured wildly to Harry, finally walking off and leaving him alone.

"Have you ever been in it?" Katrina asked.

"What?" Draco said, suddenly remembering she was with him.

"The Shrieking Shack."

"No," Draco said, turning back to make sure Harry was still tailing him. "Come on, we're nearly there."

Pansy had pouted all morning when Draco told her he had made other plans for Hogsmeade that day. The last he saw, she stomped off with her usual group of girls, giving him the finger as she left the Great Hall.

The Hog's Head was relatively deserted, except for a few of the regulars Draco was used to: a straggly haired witch with eyes the color of straw and a pudgy wizard with a red nose and a chronic case of the hiccups. He walked to the bar, ordered two shots of Firewhisky, and then sat in a corner by a dusty bookshelf. Katrina sat down looking around the place as though she had never seen so much dirt and grime. He slid the shot glass across to her.

"Oh, I don't want it," she said, smiling.

Draco's look changed her mind instantly and she brought the glass to her lips, draining it. He drained his own then promptly ordered another. Once he sat back down, Katrina looked at him with pink cheeks and a radiant smile.

"Now, you wanted to know about the Order," Draco said quietly.

Katrina nodded enthusiastically. So he told her everything he knew, appreciating how her expression lit up at the mere mention of a resistance movement, and how she seemed to hang on his every word.

When he finished, she leaned in and whispered, "Do you reckon it's true?"

Draco shrugged, lounging back in his chair. "I dunno, I suppose it makes sense."

"How do I join?" she asked, fire in her eyes.

"I don't know! Fuck, I don't even know if it's true!"

"It has to be! I mean, it makes sense! All rumors have some basis in reality. If it is true, then I want to join!" she said firmly.

"Keep your voice down!" Draco said, noticing the straw-eyed woman turn to them. "You want us to get caught doing this shit? I'm putting myself in danger by just telling you this!" He did not attempt to downplay the drama in his voice. As he'd anticipated, Katrina looked at him with wide eyes. She did something he did not expect just then; she reached over and grabbed his hand.

"Join with me, Draco," she said, barely above a whisper.

He didn't say anything, but he didn't pull his hand away either. In fact, he rather admired her brashness. He nodded and ordered another drink.

They remained in the pub for another hour or so, talking on less dangerous topics. He learned that the late Evan Rosier was her distant cousin on her mother's side, and she expounded at length on the need of the school to get rid of all Muggle-borns and disloyal half-bloods. Draco admired the fire in her speech, reminiscent of his father's words of wisdom. While he nodded in agreement, Draco realized he had merely accepted certain things as absolute truths without questioning why. For example, absolute truth number one presented by his father: all muggle-borns are sub-human. While Draco could never refute this fact, the realization that he had not formulated this opinion on his own bothered him. Why did his father have the final say in everything? Why did he, Draco, follow everything he was told without so much as a why? The thought of doing something separate from his father, without being told to do it, or why to do it, filled him with an intense surge of power. Simultaneously, he felt a conflict rise within him, one he could not yet articulate or question, much less pose an answer to.

All he could do, as the light grew dim outside, was lean in and whisper to Katrina, "I'll do it. I'll join with you."

She nodded and smiled, gathering her things. "Are you leaving?"

"In a bit, I want another drink," Draco said, looking out the window.

"All right, well I'll see you," she said, smiling.

He nodded and walked to the bar, ordering another shot.

"Dangerous topic," he heard the straw-eyed witch say next to him. "Lucky for you I'm loyal to the O.S."

"Bugger off," Draco sneered, grabbing his drink and taking a seat.

He looked out the window again and saw Harry standing alone a few feet away, gazing towards the entrance of the pub. Draco smiled slightly, feeling an annoying pang of wantonness fill his stomach. He slid the Firewhisky down his throat, put on his coat, and exited the pub.

"Don't you have better things to do than tail me, Potter?" Draco yelled as he walked towards him.

Harry didn't move, and remained with his arms crossed and his back against the wall of an ancient brick building.

"You're up to something," Harry said simply, and Draco noticed how the dusk cast Harry's eyes in shadow.

"Maybe, maybe not. Not that you'll find out."

"I'll find out," Harry said, still not moving. "I always do."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Good luck with that."

He wandered back to the castle, his hands in his pockets, the feeling of defiance still swelling within his chest. He heard Harry, Weasley, and the Mudblood talking somewhere behind him and he slowed his pace, letting them pass. Weasley shot Draco a nasty look as he passed, but Draco barely noticed. He did notice how closely Weasly and the Mudblood were walking, and how he placed a protective hand on her arm when she nearly tripped. Harry walked a few paces behind, seemingly lost in thought. Draco couldn't deny that he felt alone and naked without Crabbe and Goyle by his side, but also a bit...free? Liberated? As far as conversation went, both were about as interesting as a wall. Still, Draco recognized the benefit of keeping them around, but that did not stop him from cherishing his time away from them.

He passed Katrina in the Great Hall, and she slipped a piece of paper into his hand. He casually slid it into his pocket and sat down, grabbing a plate and filling it with food. Pansy sat down beside him, her earlier anger seemingly forgotten.

"Did you have fun?" she asked.

"I suppose," Draco said, not in the mood to talk.

He listened silently as Pansy recited her day, taking care to tell him how a boy at Honeydukes had chatted her up.

"I'm going," Draco said abruptly in the middle of her story.

"Oh, well...do you want me to...come round tonight?" she said, smiling.

"No," he said.

Once he reached his dormitory, he pulled out the slip of paper and read it : Let's meet tomorrow evening seven p.m. seventh floor. K.H.

Draco muttered, "Incendio," and watched as the paper withered to ash.

There was little doubt where Katrina had in mind for a meeting place. Draco knew quite well that the Room of Requirement was located on the seventh floor and that it would serve their purposes perfectly.

He sat lazily through his classes the following day, telling Crabbe and Goyle dirty jokes and mocking his classmates to make the time pass. This worked in all but Transfiguration, when McGonagall overheard him say, "Too bad we can't transfigure Longbottom into a toilet; at least then he'd be useful." She took ten points from Slytherin and told Draco off severely for not taking his lessons seriously.

The rest of the time he glared at Harry, at times willing him to look over so they could lock eyes. This Harry did only once or twice, but it wasn't for as long as Draco would have liked. After lessons, he walked with Crabbe and Goyle to the common room, stopping near the corridor leading to the kitchens when he saw Blaise beckoning Draco over.

"Go on," Draco told them.

Crabbe and Goyle shrugged and grunted off.

"Where were you yesterday?" Blaise said quietly, looking around.

"Hogsmeade, why?"

"In the Hog's Head? Talking to a girl about the O.S.?"

"What?" Draco said, his jaw dropping; he was rarely caught off guard.

"I heard the Mudblood Granger talking to Potter about it," Blaise said.

"How the fuck did she find out?" Draco said, rather impressed.

"Who knows. Look, the point is, if this gets out you're in serious trouble. I passed Snape's office the other night and I heard him talking to Avery on the floo network about some list of known members of the O.S. Avery sounded ready to cook up a new torture curse to use on them," Blaise said. Draco said nothing. "Do you reckon Snape's involved with the O.S.?"

"I don't know and I don't care," Draco said sharply. "Curiosity never lands you anywhere but in trouble."

"What about Granger?"

"What about her?"

"She's too damn clever," Blaise said.

"Don't worry about her; she's not worth our troubles," said Draco, shifting. "It's Potter I'm ready to murder; he's been nothing but a thorn in my side all week."

"I could--" Blaise began, but Draco waved his hand.

"Forget it. I'll deal with it later."

"Malfoy," Blaise said, as Draco turned to leave. "I have some questions on the Charms essay due next week. Do you reckon you could help me out?"

Draco nodded and walked to the common room.

Ignoring his earlier conversation with Blaise, Draco arrived on the seventh floor at exactly seven o'clock. Katrina waited for him by the tapestry of trolls Draco had always found especially appalling.

"Ready then?" she said.

Draco nodded and she walked past the blank expanse of wall three times, and opened the door that appeared. Draco followed her in, and found it cozily set with two armchairs and a small table holding a large bottle of Firewhisky. A fire warmed the small space, and a small round window, barely discernible in the darkness, was situated several feet above them.

"Right," Katrina said, taking a seat. "We have a lot to talk about."

Her face seemed darker in the firelight and her mannerisms brisk and perfunctory. She poured them each a shot and then sat back, nursing her drink as though it were water.

"I lied-I know all about the O.S.," she said suddenly.

Draco looked at her, his mouth falling into a frown. "You lied?"

"Yes, well, I had to be sure; I had to get you! We need you! You come from one of the most prestigious pure-blood families, outside of the Blacks," she said crossly, obviously thinking of the blood traitor Sirius Black.

"Stop flattering me and get to the point!" Draco snapped.

"You're powerful! I've seen you! You're one of the most powerful wizards in the school. If you harnessed your powers, you could rival the Dark Lord. And it's him we need to eradicate. Think of how much more could be accomplished with him gone. We could take over the Ministry in a matter of days with the Dementors and Inferi on our side."

"Inferi? You can't take over a country with Inferi!" Draco said incredulously.

"You can if you have enough," Katrina said darkly.

"Well, are you going to explain or leave me guessing?" Draco snapped.

"There are plans, to implement Muggles. I'm not talking about a few here or there, but hundreds, thousands if we can manage it, willingly marched to their death to be used as our army against Voldemort."

"You can't beat the Dark Lord on Inferi alone," Draco pointed out.

"No, we can't. We need more - a leader," she said, pouring another shot. "We need you. You're the one"

"Me?" said Draco.

"Yes, our leadership is in shambles. I can't say anything about who's involved directly or indirectly, but we need you. It was my job since first year to find a Slytherin worthy of taking over. It's you, Draco."

Draco stared at her, the way the firelight danced on her face, softening her features.

"Is my father--" he began, but she shook her head.

"No names. Rule number one."

"How can I lead anything from in here?"

"You don't have to literally run everything," she said slowly. "We have a bureaucracy for that. We need someone with the wits and intelligence and power to battle the Dark Lord."

"You mean defeat him?" Draco said quietly. "You want me to defeat the Dark Lord?"

"Yes, but you won't be alone. We have a vast network of resources and manpower; we have agents within the Ministry. We're currently building up an army, covertly of course, with the help of a few giants and most of the werewolves. I promise you will not be alone. With the latest purges going on within the Death Eaters, no one's got the nerve to stand up and agree to fight the Dark Lord face to face," she said.

"What about Potter, why not recruit him?"

Katrina laughed. "That's the last thing we need, a filthy half-blooded Mudblood lover to do our work, to be the face behind our cause! No, trust me, he's a liability. No one would stand behind us with him in our ranks. We need someone who embodies everything we are. The Dark Lord isn't even a pure-blood! He's nothing but a malcontent with an abundance of power."

"How can I defeat him then?" Draco said, pacing. "If he's the most powerful--"

"You aren't listening to me," Katrina said. "You won't be alone. The Dark Lord is powerful alone, but if he's faced with an entire army with you in the forefront, he won't have a chance. We need you, Draco. Please consider what I'm saying."

Draco circled the armchairs and stopped by the table, pouring himself a shot. He drained it slowly, taking in Katrina's words. He poured another, and watched the liquid drain from the cup, her face filling the bottom of the upturned glass.

"Say it's all true," said Draco, sitting. "Say you aren't feeding me bullshit. What do I get out of it?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Katrina said, smiling seductively. "You get everything!"

Draco smiled, imagining just exactly what 'everything' would entail. They finished off the bottle and in the crackling firelight Katrina stood and removed her robes. Slowly, she unbuttoned her shirt and threw it aside, then stepped out of her skirt.

"Fancy a shag?" she said, crawling to Draco on her knees. "Or maybe just a blowjob?"

Draco smiled, running his fingers through her hair, pushing her head into his lap.

She quickly unfastened his trousers and he groaned and threw his head back, closing his eyes, once again envisioning Harry between his legs giving him this pleasure. Just before he was about to explode, he threw Katrina onto the floor and crawled on top, entering her and watching her face contort deliciously in the firelight. She came twice before he pulled her around and entered her from behind.

He saw flashes of Harry outside of the Hog's Head, his hands in his pockets, his hair tussling in the breeze, his jaw defiant, his eyes blazing; those eyes. Draco squeezed Katrina's thighs as she clawed at the ground and screamed his name. Oh god, those eyes. He pounded harder, finally climaxing and falling beside her.

"Good," she panted, tracing his profile. "Very good, but who were you thinking about?"

"What?" Draco said.

"It wasn't me you were shagging, was it?" she said, a smile playing on her lips. "Oh, don't look so mortified-I don't care! An orgasm is an orgasm no matter how you spell it! Who was it?"

"No one," Draco said, closing his eyes. "It doesn't matter."

"Oh well," she said, standing. "Let's meet again next week. Think it over, OK?"

Draco watched as she dressed, comparing her build and breasts with the others girls he'd shagged. All in all, given his standards, she was certainly one of his favorites. But, he knew, she would never be able to quench the desire filling the pit of his stomach. Only one could do that, the veritable one in his life he needed to rid himself of this unbearable ache once and for all.