The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

141. The First Horcrux

Pulling Dioeh into her room, Hermione quickly shut the door behind them. With a small sigh, Hermione sat down on her bed, cross-legged. Dioleh sat down beside her, her brows furrowed. "Hermione, what's going on?" Dioleh asked.

Letting out a deep breath, Hermione said, "We need to protect Mum and Dad. Once we start helping Harry, they may find out who we are and..."

"What are you saying, Hermione?" Dioleh asked. The blood had drained from her face.

"I'm erasing their memory," Hermione said finally. "Implant the idea that they want to go to Australia. We can go find them when this is all over but for now, we need to make sure they're safe." Dioleh hesitated.

Taking Hermione's cold hand in her own, Dioleh asked quietly, "Are you sure?"

"It's the easiest way to protect them," Hermione replied.

"Okay," Dioleh sighed. "Okay. Do you know the spell?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "If you want to go see them one last time, now is the time to do it. You're all packed, right?"

"Yeah," Dioleh replied. "Let me just go give them both a hug one last time."

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Dioleh's extended carpetbag weighed heavily on her shoulders as she started up the long, winding driveway of Zabini Manor. Nervously, she tucked a curly strand of heavily dyed black hair out of sight behind her ear, blinking irritably to try and keep her contacts in place. Reaching the front door, Dioleh reached up and knocked. She was only waiting a few moments before the huge door opened and she spotted Blaise through the crack. He stared for a moment before opening the door wider.

"Hi," he said, closing the door behind her as she took down her hood, revealing her dark hair. "That's different."

"And annoying," Dioleh muttered. "These coloured contacts are driving me insane." Heading for where she remembered the living room being, Dioleh asked, "Where's Andre?"

"Not here yet," Blaise admitted. "But, I actually wanted to talk to you before he gets here."

"Okay," Dioleh replied, turning back to face him. "What's up?"

"Look, I know you said you wanted to take things slow and have time to figure everything out, but I saw you after Draco got hurt," Blaise said. "You still care about him."

"I know," Dioleh sighed. "I'm sorry, Blaise. I was going to talk to you, I just didn't know when I would have the chance. I can't be for you what you want me to be."

"Hey, no," Blaise interrupted. "I want you to be happy, whatever that looks like."

"Thank you, Blaise," Dioleh said with a warm smile. Before they could continue their conversation, there was another knock.

"Must be Andre," Blaise said, turning for the door. Setting aside her bag, Dioleh took a seat on the couch and waited for the boys to appear.

Once they were all sitting down, Andre asked, "Blaise, is your mom here? We need to make sure we're not overheard."

"Mum is in Germany," Blaise explained. "She left at the beginning of the summer."

"So did my family," Andre admitted. "They went back to the ocean to join a tribe."

"Hermione erased Oscar and Jean's memories," Dioleh said quietly. "They're headed off to Australia as we speak."

"So, what mission are we hiding away our families for?" Andre asked. "Did Hermione explain it yet?"

"Yes," Dioleh admitted. "Voldemort has split his soul into seven parts and hidden them into different objects. Until those are destroyed, he can't be killed."

"Which explains how he didn't die the first time," Blaise said.

"Exactly," Dioleh replied. "Hermione and I have figured out a way for the two of us to communicate so we can make sure we're not going after the same Horcrux and to communicate information. It's untraceable so we should be safe."

"So, when do we start?" Andre asked.

"Well, I can't do much until my birthday," Dioleh admitted. "Until I'm seventeen, I mean."

"But we can start looking," Andre said.

"Yes," Dioleh replied. Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out a folded page of the prophet and said, "Actually, I think I know where we can find one already but I don't know what we can do about it until I can do magic."

"What is it?" Blaise asked. Laying out the newspaper, Dioleh pointed at the picture of the new prime minister standing with his associates behind him.

"Based on the way Hermione described Salazar's locket, I think this is it," she explained, pointing to a small shape glinting against one of the women's chest.

"Is that-" Andre began.

"Yes," Dioleh said irritably. "But, I think she has it."

"Okay, well if we're going to break into the Ministry...again, we need to plan this carefully," Blaise said.

"Blaise, while third time's a charm," Dioleh said, "I don't think we need to break in."

"Yeah, especially since we don't have Draco or Imani this time," Blaise said.

"Yeah, well, they're busy," Dioleh said tensely. "Besides, I don't think Draco would ever step near this woman ever again."

"Why?" Blaise asked, his brows furrowed. "Whatever happened between the two of them? I could never mention Umbridge around him without him getting all tense and weird."

Dioleh hesitated a moment before replying, "Shouldn't we be more focused on how we're going steal this from Umbridge?"

"Right," Blaise said, still giving her a curious look. "After you explain what actually happened."

"Blaise, it's not my story to tell and it never will be," Dioleh sighed, not meeting his gaze. "No matter what. Let's just focus."