Emerald (Lazuli Book #2) Harry Potter Fan Fiction (Draco Malfoy)

Chapter Ten - The Three Broomsticks

At lunch, Draco rushes in late, his face still as pale as ever although it's clear he's been running. It isn't like Draco to be late, but I wasn't exactly on time either, so I let it slide.

"Hey!" I exclaim as he sinks into the seat beside me and gives me a soft kiss. "How did the tryouts go?" he asks as he spoons some tomato soup into the empty bowl in front of him. I sigh deeply and scoop the remainders of my own soup out of the bowl. "Put it this way, I can't see us beating Hufflepuff anytime soon."

Draco winces. "That bad huh?"

I nod ruefully. "I did meet somebody interesting though." I add, my voice perking up. Draco raises an eyebrow as he eats his soup. "Who's that?" he asks. I gaze down the table to wear Perseus is sitting with a couple of his fellow seventh years, one of whom got onto the Quidditch team as well. "Did you know that you had a cousin?"

Draco frowns and turns to look at me. "I have quite a few cousins. One of the 'benefits' of being descended from the oldest pure-blood family there is."

Realising that I'll need more detail, I add "his name is Perseus. He's the son of Regulus Black. He was your mother's first cousin, isn't he?"

To my surprise, Draco slams his fist into the table. I jump as the loud bang reverberates around the hall and people turn to look at us. "What was that about?" I hiss. Draco swears as he grabs a cloth and wipes up the soup that he'd spilt on the table. "I want you to stay away from him." He snarls, clenching his fist into a ball. "What? Why?!"

Draco shakes his head and shuts his eyes for a moment, flexing his hand as he tries to compose himself and control his anger. "You know what his father was."

I chuckle nervously before hissing "who are we to judge?"

Draco grabs my hand suddenly and pulls me to my feet. "Somewhere private," he mutters so quietly that I barely hear him. I manage to grab my scarf from the table as he starts to drag me away, tugging my hand so that I'll keep up. We leave the Great Hall and I shoot a fleeting look at Perseus as we pass him, but he doesn't notice. He's too wrapped up in chatting to another boy about who's better - Puddlemere United or the Chudley Cannons.

I follow Draco as we leave the school, only pausing so that he can wind his scarf around his neck and I can pull on my gloves. He grunts at Filch as we pass, who as usual is given the task of standing outside the entrance hall, checking in which students enter and leave the castle for Hogsmeade. Draco doesn't speak as we trudge out of the castle, still keeping a firm grip on my hand. It's only when we're a safe distance away and everybody else is out of earshot, that he pushes me gently onto the stone wall and sits down beside me.

"Look, you know that Regulus Black was a..." Draco lowers his voice "...death eater." I nod my head, not speaking in case it should divert him from what he's trying to say. "Regulus Black betrayed the Dark Lord, I don't know how but he did, and because of it the Dark Lord had him killed."

I frown. "What does all of this have to do with Perseus?"

Draco sighed deeply as if I was missing something right in front of me. "So, the Dark Lord doesn't simply punish those that have wronged him. He takes it out on their family as well. Perseus Black is a dangerous person to be around once the Dark Lord knows he exists. Whatever it is that Regulus Black knew about the Dark Lord, he could have passed onto his son."

"But Perseus was only a toddler when his father died..."

"The Dark Lord won't see it like that." Draco pressed firmly. "He would have probably left Black something to remember him by - something to do with the House of Black. The Dark Lord will think that perhaps Regulus Black left his son answers somehow. He'll do anything to stop whatever Black knew getting out."