The Winterscapes

The Winterscapes - Chapter Thirteen

When Draco got his journal back he went straight to the Slytherin Common Room, hurled it in the fire, and watched it burn to ash. Once his journal was sufficiently destroyed, he went to find Blaise and Emma Moon, who were probably back from Apparation by now. He knew that he had been spending appallingly too much time with that Gryffindor mudblood; he hadn't even bothered to find out if Blaise and Emma's fathers had told them that before too long, they would be marked as followers of Lord Voldemort.

Blaise was in the seventh year boys' dorm, and Draco went, despite the high-pitched female screaming it caused, into the girls' to find Emma. He dragged them both back to his Head Boy's room.

"There's this thing that's happening when school is over, but I can't say what it is unless I know that you already know," Draco said.

"A big thing that's happening to the three of us?" Emma asked. Draco nodded.

Blaise spoke up. "I have an idea. We'll both write down the date and time it's happening on a scrap of paper. If it's the same time as what you're talking about, then you'll know we know."

"That will work," Draco said, and he went to find some paper and quills. "OK, don't show each other."

Emma gave him her paper first. June 22^nd at four o'clock it said.

Then he read Blaise's, 22 June. 4:00 pm.

"Your fathers have told you then," Draco said. "We're getting the Dark Mark."

"Yes," Blaise said.

"So?" Emma asked.

"I wonder why it's just the three of us. What about everyone else?"

"Well," Emma said, "my father says it's rare that he even recruits followers straight out of Hogwarts. He usually waits until they've apprenticed and learned something or done something for the cause. But since our marks are so good I guess we don't have to bother with apprenticeship and all that. Or maybe he just likes our parents. I heard there's someone in Ravenclaw who'll be getting the mark soon. I wonder who it is?"

"It doesn't matter," Draco said. "What did your parents say when they told you?"

"My mum said to be careful not to get caught and sent to Azkaban before I have a chance to live life," Blaise said with a grin. "But that's about all."

"Didn't your parents give you a big lecture about the cause and everything?" Draco asked. They both nodded. "It kind of makes sense, doesn't it?" he pressed.

"Yeah, I guess," Blaise said. Emma shrugged.

<><><><><>

Hermione didn't seem to comprehend that Draco was serious when he said he didn't want anything to do with her anymore, which was a problem because he was having trouble convincing himself that he really didn't. She still tried to talk to him. She stared at him in class, particularly Potions where they had to sit at the same table and work together. He hated running into her on his way in or out of the library. She had been so easy for him to get along with, once he gotten her away from Potter and Weasley. She was funny, smart, and she had one of those faces that seemed to get prettier the more you got used to looking at it.

The thing was, he understood the cause. He even agreed with the cause, and yet Hermione was Muggle-born. He was mad at her for reading his journal; she certainly seemed less good and incorruptible after that, but it wasn't the whole reason he didn't want to talk to her or even look at her anymore. She was right: she made him question the cause. He knew that she shouldn't be allowed to come to Hogwarts and join the Wizarding world, but when he was around her he almost felt as though she was good for his world after all. His father would say that she was a weakness, and if a mudblood made him question his beliefs, then no more being friends with mudbloods. He was strong; he would be fine. Besides, there would be other girls.

So Draco went to Quidditch practice and classes and carried on with his Head Boy duties like he normally did. Truly, he was beginning to get antsy for the school year to be over. At the start of the year he had been a bit nervous about it being his last year at school, but now he wanted to get on with his life, and he felt like it would all start, it would all take off, just as soon as the last couple months of school were over with.

Quidditch practice and Head Boy duties were routine and almost relaxing; it was classes that were torturous. Hermione was in so many of his classes. All of the standard ones that the Slytherin and Gryffindor seventh years had together, and also seventh year Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Not to mention, the teachers hadn't brought up any new material for weeks. All they did was review and prepare for the N.E.W.T.S. Defense was the worst class of all because he had to listen to Dagmar. Dagmar was a squib. Of course. Draco probably wouldn't have picked up on it on his own, but it made perfect sense once he was told. Now that he knew the reason for Dagmar's talks about firearms and dark fey, they seemed more asinine than ingenious. Defense was such a waste of time. One afternoon Draco looked up the Dagmar family in the Who's Who. Professor Dagmar was the only squib in the family. They were pureblood all the way, except for several decades earlier, one of Dagmar's several times great-grandfather had married a muggle. That unfortunate incident was undoubtedly the reason for Dagmar's lack of magical capabilities. Just another reason to support the cause.

A/N: I took the idea of the Wizarding Who's Who from The Sybil's Oracle by Susanna/Pigwidgeon37. If you're looking for a great Snapefic, The Sybil's Oracle is my favorite, by the way.

Next chapter Hermione finds out what Harry has been up to.