White Lies {discontinued}

Twenty Two ~ Recruited

Draco watched the bird fly away, then he turned on Aggie.

"You are going to fix this cabinet for me," said Malfoy.

A frown formed between Aggie's eyebrows.

"I -"

"Come with me," said Malfoy, cutting across the rest of her sentence.

He turned on his heel, and started off swiftly. Aggie stayed exactly where she was. She wasn't sure if she wanted to help Malfoy . . . She wasn't sure if she should. She far from trusted the boy.

Realizing she hadn't followed, Malfoy stopped, and turned on his heel to glare at her. "Hurry up," he said.

"But I already fixed the cabinet, didn't I?" said Aggie slowly. "The bird came out . . . What else do you want me to do?"

An expression on impatience crossed the boy's pale face.

"We don't know if the bird ended up in the right place," snapped Malfoy. "Or of it even made it all the way to the other side. And until we know that, we have to keep running tests. I need you in case it turns out we haven't fixed it."

Aggie bit her lip, still hesitating.

Malfoy gave an impatient sigh before walking back to Aggie and grabbing her arm.

Malfoy pulled her after him several feet, before letting go when he felt she would follow.

And Aggie did follow, all the way down the aisles, and to the door exiting the room. Malfoy came to a sudden halt, and Aggie tripped over her own feet trying to avoid running into him.

Malfoy opened the door, and stuck his head out. Aggie thought he was just checking to make sure the coast was clear before leaving, but instead he called. "Crabbe, get Goyle and come in here."

Then he shut the door.  A moment later there was the sound of footsteps and, to Aggie's surprise, two girls came hurrying into the room. One was a stocky Gryffindor girl Aggie recognized as being in her year. Unfortunately Aggie had never been very good with names . . . What was it? Emily Brumbly? Something like that. And the other girl was a second year Slytherin.

"This is my back up," said Malfoy gesturing at the two, "Crabbe and Goyle."

"Crabbe and Goyle?" asked Aggie with a frown. Then she pointed at the Gryffindor girl. "But your Emily Brumbly!"

The Gryffindor girl turned red.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Not any more. Look I have Crabbe and Goyle talking polyjuice potion while they're keeping watch. They will always be out on the hallway while we are working-"

"Margo!" Aggie blurted.

Malfoy peered at her incredulously. "Are you stupid? I just told you they're Crabbe and Goyle-"

"No," said Aggie, blushing as she realized she didn't make sense. "I mean a girl in my house, Margo Bonnet, you used her hair in a polyjuice potion, didn't you?"

"Maybe," said Malfoy. "I honestly don't remember. Now listen to what I'm saying. They will be keeping watch for us. If you hear something drop, know someone is probably entering the room. Understand?"

Aggie nodded. Everything was sliding into place now; Margo's sudden appearance in the Room of Requirement, the Hufflepuff girl who had come running to tell Malfoy about the Quidditch match, and the Gryffindor girl who'd dropped her books outside the room - they were all really Crabbe and Goyle!

Draco turned to the other girls.

"Crabbe, Goyle - this is Aggie. She will be helping me with what I'm working on, alright. So if you see her coming, don't try to stop her."

"So you mean she gets to know what you're doing?" said the Gryffindor girl with a sour expression.

"Yes, Goyle," said Malfoy. "Sort of."

"Then how come we don't get to?" asked Goyle through Emily's mouth.

"Because," said Draco. He ran his hand through his hair in a frustrated way. "The less people who know, the better. You can leave now. I need to discuss things further with Aggie."

Grumbling, Crabbe and Goyle left. Malfoy turned back to Aggie.

"Alright, Crabbe and Goyle can't know anything about the Vanishing Cabinet? Understand?"

Aggie nodded.

"And of you tell anyone else anything about it, it might just be the last thing you do," snarled Malfoy. Aggie saw his hand clench around his wand in a threatening way.

Aggie swallowed hard. She didn't know if the boy meant what he said, but it was still frightening. She nodded quickly.

"Good," said Malfoy. "Alright, you can go-"

"What are you doing?" Aggie interrupted.

Malfoy squinted at her. "What?"

"You - you just told your friends I get to know what your doing, so . . . what are you doing?" said Aggie in a small voice.

"You do know," said Malfoy stiffly. "I'm fixing a Vanishing Cabinet."

"But why?" asked Aggie.

"Because," said Draco, not meeting her eyes.

Aggie watched the boy for a moment. Then,with all the self strength she could muster, she said, "I-I refuse to help you unless you tell me what your doing."

Dread filled the pit of Aggie's stomach as Draco slowly lifted his head to look at her. Anger flashed in his gray eyes.

"You'll help me if I tell you -" Malfoy started angrily, then he stopped. He looked at the floor, up at the ceiling, then back at Aggie. Then he spoke again. "That cabinet has a twin. The other side is in the store Borgin and Burkes.  That store is filled with dangerous, dark objects . . . With the rise of the Dark Lord's followers, those objects will be put to more and more use. I decided if I could get into Borgin and Burkes from here, then I could get ahold of those objects and destroy them."

Aggie's eyes grew rounder and rounder as the boy spoke.

"Really?"  she breathed in amazement. "That's incredibly good of you . . . Of course I'll help."

"Good," said Draco roughly, looking away from her. "You can go now."

Aggie stared at him for one second, before turning to the door and pulling it open.

"And remember," said Draco. Aggie paused in the door and looked back at him. "Not a word to anyone."