Harry Potter and The Secret of The Heirs

Chapter Fourteen

All Hallow's Eve

Despite Ginny's kind words and advice, Draco knew that this was a decision he would have to make this decision himself. He had been given the chance to make a choice and he knew he must do the right thing. He had never thought twice about becoming a Death Eater, this is what he had been brought up to do. It wasn't until Professor Àille had given him the choice that he had seriously thought that he had other options. Now he knew, as he had always known that he didn't really want to be a Death Eater. Sure, he was cunning and deceitful, malicious even but he wasn't evil. He didn't want to hurt people. And they would hurt him if he didn't accept.

Could he really spy on them? Draco wondered whether or not he had the courage. He didn't think he had the guts. He'd never really considered it an option. If he flat out refused, they would use Ginny as bait, eventually they would kill her if he didn't follow the rules. They would torture her first and then he would be greatly punished. He would be cast out of the circle and would be no good to anyone.

He would have to live the rest of his life in hiding. Even if The Dark Lord was eventually defeated, he would still be seen as a traitor, and he would still live a life of fear. He and Ginny could go into hiding, but she was too young to start her life like that. If he became a spy, she could go into hiding after she finished school; that is if she still wanted him then. That is if she still wanted a man who had received the Dark Mark. He shuddered at the thought of having to receive the Mark. He just knew it would be painful. Everything associated with Voldemort seemed to be painful.

After agonising for hours Draco saw that if he didn't want to be a Death Eater, which he didn't, there wasn't a choice. He couldn't put Ginny in danger like that. She was too important.

Professor Àille walked in the door.

'Draco' she said astonished. 'What are you doing here?'

'I've made a decision,' he said firmly.

He handed her the letter, she read it slowly and deliberately, weighing up its contents.

'I take it, because you here, you do not wish to be a Death Eater.'

Draco nodded. He took a deep breath.

'I will spy for you,' he said it slowly and carefully although there was a detectable element of anxiety in the voice.

'Are you positive?' she asked. 'You will be placing yourself in grave danger. They will kill you immediately if they catch you. They will not even give it a second thought.'

'I understand and I realise that you don't know whether or not you can trust me,' he said. 'But believe me when I say, I am in far more danger if I refuse. You may be able to hide me, but you cannot guarantee my safety. Look what happened to the Potters. You no longer know who is good and who is evil, you've got no idea who to trust. My father would be after me for the rest of his life. They would torture Ginny and then they would kill her. Just to get at me. I cannot put her in that kind of danger. I will not. I do not want her harmed. I know they will kill me if I'm caught, if I spy then at least I buy myself some time.'

She nodded.

'You are very brave Draco; I will inform Dumbledore of your decision. He will organise your training. We have a mentor in mind for you.'

He wondered who that would be. It would obviously have to be someone who was already spying for them.

'There's one more thing Professor,' he said. This decision had been far easier. Once he had decided that he definitely did not want to be a Death Eater, he knew what the next step would be. He would free his mother.

'I will give you my father.'

'What?' the tone of the question was that of someone who had received a shock they had never expected.

'I want him punished for what he has done to me. I will give you proof of his Death Eater activities, I will give testimony of his actions, and I will trap him into performing an unforgivable curse, so that he gets life in Azkaban and I don't have to worry about him anymore. I want my mother to be free from his abuse. I make my own decisions from now on Professor.'

Chrystal Àille watched the boy walk out of her office. He was virtually sacrificing himself for them. The boy was right. He had no choice; they would kill him and those he loved if he did not conform. But there was too much of his mother in him for him to follow Voldemort, despite his upbringing. The boy wasn't evil, despite everything else he was. She just hoped that he would be faithful to them. He could easily become a liability. But then that was a chance they would have to take. He could be extremely useful.

She would talk to Sirius after the feast.

*~*

The Halloween Feast was particularly spirited this year. The Great Hall as per usual was decorated with giant jack-o-lanterns suspended in the air instead of candles. Hagrid had done his best to ensure that they were large and rich in colour for Halloween. For some reason, the experience of walking into the Great Hall at Halloween never ceased to amaze Harry. It was like walking back into a fairytale land, where all your problems could be left behind. Harry just hoped that something wouldn't happen this year to destroy the feast.

The Gryffindor table was in high spirits after the Quidditch match. Everybody was congratulating Ron on his efforts with the team, Harry hoped that it would mean that he would now lay off them a bit, he loved Quidditch but at the rate Ron was pushing them there wasn't going to be a team to win the Cup by the end of the season. It was also good to see Ron getting the attention he deserved. Although it had never really been an issue between them, Harry was aware that many people saw him only as his sidekick, as untrue as that statement was. Ron had worked hard since he had taken over as Quidditch Captain. His tactics were mind-boggling and had never failed to win Gryffindor a match.

Ginny appeared to be the only person not in very good spirits, despite her outstanding form on the Quidditch pitch that day. Try as they would neither Harry nor Ron could cheer her up and they both failed to understand why she would be so upset. Rose hinted to Harry and Ron that she had been stood up after the Quidditch match and had been in a foul mood since then.

Ginny just felt like she couldn't tell them what was wrong. How could she say, I think my boyfriend is going to break up with me because I think he's decided to be a Death Eater? They'd just turn around and say that they had warned her. He'd been so distant the last week; Ginny was certain he'd decided to follow the Dark Lord. He'd been so unlike himself lately. It just wasn't fair. Why did she have to fall for Draco Malfoy of all people? Why did he have such an effect on her? Rose wasn't helping either. She was trying to cheer Ginny up, but at the same time she was trying to catch Ron's attention very unsuccessfully. It was unsettling that her best friend seemed to have a secret crush on Ron.

Hermione was in the best mood that she had been since school her birthday. In light of the Gryffindor victory and the fact that Lavender hadn't kissed Harry openly when they had won had made her feel much better than she had in a while. She could deal with their relationship as long as she did not have to witness it. She had even gotten over her insane jealousy. Perhaps she had just been using the thought to get over Ron. Or perhaps the fact that she hadn't kissed him meant that things weren't going so well between them. That was an even better thought.

The house-elves had made numerous delicious dishes for them; the food was absolutely exceptional (well, perhaps not as good as the Yule Ball in fourth year but pretty good nonetheless). Harry dug into his roast pumpkin, the traditional Halloween side dish, eagerly. It was a good thing he liked pumpkin. He wondered if it was a wizard thing; there wasn't a witch or wizard he knew that didn't like pumpkin.

After the meal was served a young wizard band, called The Piping Pumpkins performed. The band included Alicia Spinnet who was their lead singer. Harry and Ron had heard of them in passing before, they were supposed to be really incredible. As the band started to play, they noticed Lee Jordan hiding in the corner; he'd obviously come to listen to them.

They sang a few popular songs before performing some of their own compositions. Harry smiled as he listened to her sing. Fred and George had always teased her about it when they were at Hogwarts, but listening to her, he could understand why Lee had once whispered that he fell for Alicia while she was singing.

The band was fantastic and gave the Great Hall a celebratory feel. Ron and Harry went and talked to Alicia afterward, who unfortunately didn't have much time for them, but mentioned that Fred and George had managed to strike a deal for their store in Diagon Alley, despite the heavy opposition they had initially received. Lee had a bit more time for them, though not by much.

'We'll catch up with you next Hogsmeade weekend,' he said. 'By the way, great Quidditch match. The commentating was shocking though.'

Lee had a big smile on his face as he and Alicia left Harry and Ron to get back to the feast.

Harry and Ron intended to enjoy the feast and bask in the celebrations that were planned for Gryffindor Tower after the feast, as it had been a long time since Gryffindor had won a Quidditch game two hundred and fifty to nil. They would be put to shame if they didn't celebrate. McGonagall hadn't really been informed, but they knew she would expect a bit of post match celebration as long as it wasn't too loud and didn't carry on too long into the night.

Neville had even managed to sneak in some Butterbeer that afternoon. Harry and Ron tried endlessly to find out how he managed to sneak out and get in, then sneak it in without being caught. Neville was keeping his mouth shut. He seemed to be very pleased with himself. Harry was glad Neville was taking a few more risks; it was good to see him having a bit of confidence in himself. His problem was that he just didn't believe he was capable of doing something great, although everyone else in the school was certain he would take out the Herbology prize.

Harry was flirting with Lavender, which was becoming a regular occurrence, people were used to that. There was something else though, that surprised a few people. It was Ron flirting with Parvati and Parvati responding that made a few people eyebrows raise. It was extremely unexpected to the members of Gryffindor given that Parvati had treated Ron with the utmost disrespect since he had basically ignored her sister at the Yule Ball. And Ron, to be honest, had never shown the slightest bit of interest in Parvati at all. Parvati leaned over towards Ron and whispered something in his ear, and his ear turned redder than his hair. Poor Rose was glaring at Parvati. Her attempts to make Ron notice her were going unnoticed.

It was going to be a very interesting night in Gryffindor Tower, Harry thought. He hoped that the celebrations would be kept under control; he shuddered at the thought of having to take house points off his fellow house mates. What was going on?

Finally the expected finale occurred with the Hogwarts ghosts well and truly in their element. They flew in through portraits on the walls, some of the ghosts making inappropriate faces as they soared through some of the ladies portraits. Nearly Headless Nick looked like he was having the time of his life, or death, as it would seem. The ghostly finale ended with the ghost forming a circle above all the students with Peeves in the middle doing his own little dance routine. It made the entire hall burst into laughter.

The Gryffindor's headed up towards the Tower for the night's celebrations. Seamus ran upstairs and produced his radio, a special one that was bewitched to play loudly when hooked up to the Wizard Wireless. The Weird Sister's were the feature for this Halloween evening. Harry, Seamus and Neville immediately moved to relocate the furniture, so that there was a bit of a dance floor, while Ron ran upstairs to find the supplies that Fred and George had sent him. He let off an indoor firework, as Ginny and Rose filled the room with non-exploding luminous balloons.

The party had begun.

Harry and Ron decided to start the dancing. Harry led Lavender onto the floor as Ron led Hermione. They started the dancing and soon everyone else seemed to catch onto the idea. Harry even managed to get Ginny to dance, which seemed an amazing feat given her attitude at dinner, but then her mood had seemed to have lightened since dinner.

'What's up Gin?' he asked.

'Nothing really Harry,' she said. 'I'll be fine. I need to sort a few things out. Don't worry; it will all be over soon. I have a feeling I'll be much happier tomorrow.'

She gave him a smile. It wasn't very convincing. Harry wondered if she was going to break up with Malfoy. For Ron's sake he hoped the answer to that question was yes.

At the end of the dance she headed towards the staircase leading to the girl's dormitories.

Harry then got the chance to dance with Rose who seemed quite concerned about Ginny. Harry had gotten to know Rose very well when he and Ginny had been a couple. She was a sweet fifth year girl who was so full of life.

'What happened?' Harry asked.

'Draco ran off after the Quidditch match today,' she replied. 'They were supposed to meet. She should get over it soon, I hope.'

Harry nodded. Ginny was a little sensitive like that.

'Do you think she's going to be okay?' Rose asked.

'Ginny's made of strong stuff,' he said. 'I just hope for Malfoy's sake that he doesn't hurt her because I have no doubts that Ron will kill him, and he won't need a wand to do it.'

He finished the next dance and looked down at his watch.

'Sorry Rose,' he said. 'I've got to meet someone.'

Harry decided that it was time for him to briefly visit Sirius. He figured he'd only be gone for half an hour, as the celebrations were starting to get very interesting. He grabbed the Invisibility Cloak; he certainly didn't want Snape to see him. It would be just the excuse he needed to give Harry detention for the rest of the year, despite him having permission. He covered himself with the cloak and then realised he had forgotten to bring the Marauders Map.

Damn, At least Sirius was expecting him. He shouldn't get any surprises.

*~*

After the feast, Chrystal headed towards the Staff Quarters. She knocked on Sirius' door and entered his room. He was sitting on the bed patiently waiting.

She couldn't understand why he had this effect on her after all these years, but she couldn't understand why she was so fixed on the idea that he was still pining over Lily. I mustn't think about it now, it will only upset me.

She walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to him.

'Well,' she began. 'Mr Malfoy has just been to see me; it appears he has made a decision. He's willing to spy for us.'

Sirius let out his breath.

'Well, let's hope he fully understands what he's getting into.'

'I've explained the dangers and he's willing to accept that. He'd rather risk his life than put Ginny Weasley at risk. The way he cares about her is astonishing. I admire his courage. He's well aware of what they will do to her if he refuses. And I should add what they will do to him.'

'We could put them into hiding,' Sirius suggested.

'Come on Sirius,' she was slightly annoyed. 'Be realistic. They're seventeen and fifteen. It's one thing to put Draco into hiding but Ginny as well. And we can't just put Draco into hiding, they'll kill Ginny. It's just like James and Lily again and we wouldn't want to make a mistake like that.'

Sirius was a bit taken aback.

'Of course we don't want to make a mistake like that again. But they're not quite in the same league as Lily and James were. Voldemort was after James and Lily for a reason. I have always regretted that decision. I shouldn't have followed my instincts.'

'You thought Remus was the traitor,' her voice softened slightly. 'Sirius you have to remember the situation you were in. You made the right decision; it was just the wrong right decision. You knew someone was passing information; you just picked the wrong guy. Come on, who would have thought pathetic little Peter Pettigrew, would have enough guts to be a Death Eater. More like he didn't have enough guts to refuse.'

They were both standing by now. Neither looked very impressed. The past didn't really need to rehashed.

'I will always hold myself responsible Chrys. I killed two of best friends, one was like a brother to me, the other was...'

He stopped dead in his sentence. Sirius bit his lip. He couldn't continue.

Chrystal glared at him. Why couldn't he be honest with her? She needed to know how he really felt; recent events had made it impossible to carry on this façade any longer.

'Go on Sirius' her voice rising. 'What was she to you? Why can't you tell me?'

'She was a friend; she was like a sister to me. She was my best friend's wife.'

'I don't believe you Sirius,' she spat. 'I know you carried a secret candle for her, don't deny it.'

'Okay I won't deny it, but that's not the way it is now.'

'No?' she questioned. 'You just spent twelve years pining for her in Azkaban, so much so, that when you get out you won't even approach me, then you get your brains back and remember that she's dead and it was she who dumped you in the first place!'

'That's hardly fair Chrys,' Sirius defended himself.

'Just tell me this Sirius Black. What if Lily hadn't died, would you still be with me? Or would you be with her?'

Sirius was stunned. He'd never seen her so vindictive before, not even when she spoke of her mother.

*~*

Harry found the portrait of the ballerina and whispered softly;

'Pavlova.'

He reached Sirius' door. A bad feeling began to creep up his insides. He could hear the yelling.

'Just tell me this Sirius Black. What if Lily hadn't died, would you still be with me? Or would you be with her?'

He was in disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He dropped his Invisibility Cloak in surprise. Now was probably not a good time to be here, even if he was invited.

Sirius hadn't replied. Chrystal opened the door and stormed out.

Harry didn't have time to move.

'Harry, what are you doing here?' she said as he saw him standing there. She ran off crying, as Sirius called out the door after her.