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

Chapter Thirty - The Battle of the Astronomy Tower

Perseus

I heaved my heavy bag onto my shoulder and stood up, filing out of the Great Hall after the rest of my year. I'd just completed my last NEWT in Defence Against the Dark Arts, they were all over and done with now, I only had to wait until August to find out my results.

I hadn't really given much thought to what I wanted to do once I left school. When I was a kid, I was determined I was going to be a Quidditch player - the best seeker there was. But by the time I was 15, I'd realised that there was no point in that plan. I simply wasn't good enough.

Next, I considered a career at the Ministry of Magic. Perhaps I could wipe away the shame that tainted my family name, what with my father being a Death Eater and my uncle Sirius having been a mass-murderer (although Juliet told me that this wasn't true, he'd never killed anybody).

I never liked Sirius - he knew about my mother and I, and the fact that we had no money and often went hungry. Mother had to work in terrible, muggle jobs that she hated, so that she could earn just enough money to pay our rent and keep me fed. True, he was locked up in Azkaban for 12 years, but he hardly made any efforts to find and help us after he was released.

I'd been meaning to ask my sister what she thought I should do. My NEWTs had gone quite well and I was confident that I'd get good results. But I hadn't seen her since yesterday evening, before I'd left to take my Arithmancy exam. When I returned and asked about her, a first year told me that she'd disappeared with Draco Malfoy. Not wanting to be one to pry, I'd concluded to speak to her the next morning at breakfast.

But then neither she nor Malfoy turned up. I tried asking her friend Honey - practically having to pull her off a Hufflepuff's face - if she'd seen her, but I quickly got told that she and Malfoy had probably gone off for the day, and Honey returned to her victim.

I'd spent the few hours before my exam started revising, hardly having time to think about my missing sister. If she was with Malfoy, she'd be safe. I saw the way he looked at her - adoringly, like she was the only good thing in his dreadful life. Which from what she'd told me about him, was probably correct.

Surprisingly, the fact that Malfoy was a Death Eater didn't bother me as much as it should. After all, my father had been one. Father had been high up in their ranks, and he'd still seen the light and tried to get out. If he could do it, so could Malfoy. And if anyone was going to be able to help him, it'd be Andromeda.

I followed the rest of the Slytherins from the hall - through the open doors of the courtyard I could see the setting sun. I looked to my watch - 6pm - and decided that I'd have time to find Andromeda before dinner.

At that precise moment, Harry Potter came cantering down the steps, accompanied by Ron Weasley - Andromeda's adoptive brother. I watched them curiously, deciding to ask if either of them had seen her. "Hey, Potter!" I called, striding after him and ignoring the surprised glances of my classmates.

Potter stopped and looked around, catching sight of me. His eyes lit up slightly, and he grabbed Ron's elbow, dragging him over to me. "We've been looking for you!" Harry exclaimed. I frowned, "you've been looking for me?"

"Yeah" Weasley wheezed, clutching his side as he tried to regain his breathe, "we wanted to know if you'd seen Li?"

I frowned, it took me a few moments to realise that they were asking if I'd seen Andromeda? "I was about to ask you the same thing" I stuttered. Potter's eyes grew wide, "when did you last see her?" I asked them.

"After Transfiguration yesterday, she wanted to go and do some revision" Weasley mumbled. I nodded, panic filling me, "I saw her last night, before I left for my exam. When I came back, they said that she'd disappeared with Malfoy - they'd been arguing."