Broken: a Draco Malfoy Love Story

Chapter 26 - The Quibbler Issue

"Draco, you need to see this!" Pansy Parkinson breathlessly said, sliding a magazine down the Slytherin table to Draco. After a long night talking during their Prefect duties, Draco had come to see that Pansy really regretted what she did to Alexia and he had forgiven her for it.
Draco looked down at the magazine, which to his astonishment was the Quibbler and read the words printed on the front cover:

HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST:
THE TRUTH ABOUT HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED
AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN

Draco glanced at Pansy in confusion. "Read the article!" she told him.
"Why should I read it? It's Potter in the Quibbler? How much pain do you want to put me through?" he questioned.
Pansy rolled her eyes, "I think you'll want to know what it's about."
"Well, tell me then!"
"I will!" Pansy said, taking the magazine from him. She flipped to the article and cleared her throat, reading the introduction "Harry Potter describes the night he witnessed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named return and names each of his Death Eater followers who also returned, reports Rita Skeeter."
Draco gaped at her, "My father?"
Pansy slowly nodded.
"Let me see that!" he grumbled, taking the magazine back from her. He gazed at the article, then looked over to the Gryffindor table. There, Harry Potter sat rummaging through letters upon letters, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley helping him. Draco angrily smacked the magazine down on the table causing the milk to splash from his bowl of cereal.
"Umbridge will handle it," Pansy said. Just as she did, the toad-like witch began hurrying down from the staff table to where Potter sat. It was unclear what Umbridge was saying but it was obvious she wasn't happy. Potter gave her a copy of the magazine and after scanning through it, she tightened her grip of it angrily in her fist and stalked off.

Without another word, Draco stood up and marched out of the Great Hall; he needed to write to his mother and father to see what this would mean for their family, especially his father.
On his way out he bumped into Crabbe, Goyle and Alexia who had slept in a little later.
"You'll want to read this," he said to them, handing them his copy of the Quibbler, then continuing to the Owlery to write and send the letter.

•••

By midday a new Educational Decree was issued, banning the Quibbler magazine from Hogwarts. But all this seemed to do was make the magazine ten times more popular. Some were caught with the magazine, others were wise and hid their copies with concealment charms. Soon it seemed almost the entire school had read the article or at least heard about it from somebody else, and this didn't particularly please the few boys whose fathers were named by Potter as Death Eaters.

"What do you think this means for us?" Theodore Nott, whose father was named as a Death Eater asked as he, Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy huddled together in the library that evening discussing the magazine article.
"I've written a letter to Father but I doubt he'll reply straight away. It's obviously going to destroy my family's reputation. Father has many connections with the Ministry as you would know, and now I'm afraid, we might lose them." Draco told them.
The other three boys nodded.
"Look who it is, Scarhead himself!" Draco hissed nodding towards where Harry Potter was browsing for a book with Hermione Granger.
Goyle cracked his knuckles threatingly and stared Potter down.
"He's going to pay!" Draco whispered malevolently to Crabbe beside him.
"Malfoy, you can't do anything otherwise you'll be admitting you've read the article!" Nott pointed out before the three could attack Potter.
Draco glowered angrily, "I know, Nott!" he said.
"Good." Nott replied. "Anyway, I need to finish an essay, see you later."
Draco nodded, "Come on you two, let's go," he said to Crabbe and Goyle, then flounced out of the library in a fury.

Alexia was on her way to the Common Room when she crossed paths with Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. "Good evening you three," she said, then frowned, "I read the article."
Draco grunted in response.
"Are you worried for your father?" Alexia asked.
"Of course I am," Draco stated. "I know it's only the bloody Quibbler, but some people will start realising the Dark Lord is back, some already have, and a lot of people will hassle him or distrust him now."
Alexia pursed her lips then spoke "Listen, Draco, the Ministry refuses to believe the Dark Lord is back and I doubt that stupid magazine will change their views. As for his reputation, people everywhere know my father's a Death Eater," Alexia said, "and I guess they know he's escaped from Azkaban..." she added in a whisper, "...but my family haven't lost their reputation. It's a little tarnished but still!"
Draco nodded, "I know. I'm not all that worried, just angry with Potter!" he spat, "I wish Umbridge hadn't made that new decree so I could smash him in!"