Little Bird

Chapter Forty-Two

Draco

            Eve and I had gone home for Christmas break, but only because Lucius had told us to. I hadn't wanted to be anywhere near my family—especially because of how terribly things were going at school—but we didn't have a choice. Spending Christmas with my parents was the last thing I wanted to be doing.

            Christmas wasn't for another two days, but Lucius got right down to why he'd needed us to come to the manor instead of staying at Hogwarts to work on the cabinet. Eve and I came down that Saturday morning for breakfast when Lucius stopped us on the way to the kitchen, telling us we needed to come to the parlor.

            "What for?" I asked a little exasperatedly, Eve only slightly behind me. It was too early in the morning for this.

            "It's about the task," Lucius said evenly, already starting for the door. "Your mother and I have something to tell you both."

            I rolled my eyes but reluctantly followed him, knowing it was better to just go along with it. Eve was close behind me, and her arms were crossed over her t-shirt a bit self-consciously. Neither of us had been expecting to be interrogated by my parents when we'd rolled out of bed this morning, and I was sure I probably looked terrible.

            My mother was waiting in the parlor, her arms crossed tightly in front of her as Lucius came to stand beside her. Eve stood close beside me, her hand brushing against mine slightly—because we both knew this probably wasn't going to be good.

            "Severus told us about what happened with the necklace," Lucius stated immediately, looking down at me and not even caring enough to glance at Eve. "He told us the girl nearly died."

            Trying not to let the anger seep through my voice already, I replied calmly, "I know. But she didn't die, and she doesn't remember any of it."

            "What were you thinking?" he snapped. "You weren't even following the Dark Lord's orders. He specifically told you to repair the cabinet and then—"

            "Yeah, well, it's taking a lot longer than we thought it would," I interrupted coldly. "It was my idea to use the necklace. I thought it would be better to do it this way instead of bringing all the Death Eaters into the castle."

            "It doesn't matter what you think, Draco," Lucius spat. I could see how furious he was as he glared heatedly down at me—I hadn't had a clue how furious he was about what had happened at school. I'd known they would both be upset, but definitely not this badly. "You do what the Dark Lord tells you. Fix the cabinet, bring the others into the castle, and kill the headmaster. That's it."

            My mother flinched when he mentioned killing Dumbledore, but Lucius ignored it. I was fuming by now, but I didn't even get a chance to open my mouth again; Eve spoke up for the first time all morning, saying a bit sharply, "Draco was just trying to make things easier. It was a good idea."

            Lucius turned to her coldly, and my blood boiled at the way he looked down at her—like she was scum underneath his shoe. His voice was sneering as he asked her, "And where were you when it was happening? Standing around nearby and drawing more attention to Draco?"

            "Don't start on her," I interrupted angrily, but Eve drew herself up to her full height and didn't shrink away from him.

            "I made sure no one was looking when he left the bathroom, actually," she said icily. "It doesn't matter. Katie's okay, and no one thinks we were involved."