Don't Ever Forget

XVI.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Draco Malfoy kissed me. A confusing swirl of giddiness and dread overcame me. Draco, the boy who says he cares about me. Draco, the boy that tormented my best friends at Hogwarts.

No matter how strong the part of me that wants to blindly walk into a romance with him, I know that I can't possibly have the energy for that in my life right now. Can I? Everything is just so confusing now. We agreed to be friends and the first time we are alone he kisses me. And I kiss him back! Was I expecting this to happen from the start? Did I have these feelings for him from the start?

All these questions I ask myself take too much effort to answer so I try my best to push them away and start to brainstorm a plan to protect Muggleborns. If I had a number of how many Muggleborns might have been exposed I'd have a better idea on how to protect them. The first idea that pops into my head is an Auror and Muggleborn pairing, where the Auror will serve to protect the Muggleborn throughout the day. The problem is that this doesn't really help any Muggleborn Aurors and who knows if there are enough Aurors to protect every Muggleborn.

The only thing I can think of to protect as much Muggleborns as possible would be to relocate them to a safe place that can be protected by Aurors throughout the day. But where? And what place has the capacity to hold that many people? What place has the ability to withstand attacks? I pace around my room, my mind is completely preoccupied now. That is, until a small movement on my wall catches my eye.

It's a picture from years ago. I'm with Hermione, Harry and Ron at the beginning of our third year at Hogwarts. Despite some of the scary moments from the previous years, the world was still peaceful because Voldemort hadn't gained much power yet. I take the frame off the wall to look closely. We are all smiling, unaware of what we would face in the coming years. Even Harry, who already endured so much, looks blissful and happy. He changed after the death of Cedric and even more so after the death of Sirius. But in this picture, his youth and innocence is preserved. I smile at this fond memory until I realize something.

Hogwarts! The place that protected us for years! The place that withstood the Battle against Voldemort! You can't apparate or disapparate on the grounds and its staffed by some of the most knowledgable witches and wizards! This could work, a temporary relocation of muggleborns to Hogwarts until the threat on their lives is taken care of. I look back at the picture of the four of us, smiling, laughing, and hugging each other. Hermione gives me a wink from the picture and I smile. Brilliant.

The next morning I get ready as fast as I can and rush to Billingsgate's office.

"I want to call a meeting." I tell him.

"You want to call a meeting?" he asks, raising his eyebrow.

"Yes, it's important. I came up with a plan that I think could work." I say excitedly. I can tell he wants to argue with me on this but I won't allow him to make this difficult, or to take my idea without credit. He shrugs and gestures towards his door, implying that I can call the meeting myself. I go to each office and tell everyone that there will be a meeting immediately and make my way to the committee room. Before I get there, someone is waiting for me outside the door.

"Draco?"

"I think we need to talk." he says with a serious expression. The memory of him kissing me yesterday flashes into my mind and makes my heart skip a beat.

"Not now, I have a meeting to go to..." I say, suddenly feeling shy.

"Then when can we?" he demands.

"I don't know, Draco. I'm busy." I say and try to walk past him. He grabs my upper arm and holds me back. I look up at him and meet his gaze and he looks troubled with something.

"So it's you who's avoiding me now?" he asks.

"No. No, I'm sorry. I can meet you after the meeting. Be at the cafe in an hour." I say and slowly pull my arm away from his grasp. He nods in agreement and leaves without a word. When he's gone from view I let out a sigh. I can't let myself worry about what he wants to say, I have a meeting.

I walk into the room and everyone is waiting for me there. Billingsgate looks amused but doesn't say anything to me so I decide to start the meeting myself.

"We all know about the danger Muggleborns are now in and I'm sure you all have been thinking hard about a plan." I begin but the room remains silent. I clear my throat and continue.

"I've been thinking deeply about the issue since our last meeting and I believe that the safest option is to temporarily relocate Muggleborns to a safe place. And I think that safe place could be Hogwarts." Once I finish the sentence the room seems to erupt with conversation.

"You want to force people out of their homes?" "You want them to be kept safe at a school?" "How can we assure that Hogwarts will stay safe?" And many more questions that I can't quite make out. I glance to Billingsgate but he's sitting back in his chair, seeming happy at my lack of control over the meeting.

"Everyone! While it's just an idea and a bit of a long shot, we have no safer options. Hogwarts has withstood the Battle just years ago and no one can apparate into it, which makes it safer than any other place. Also, if we can focus our efforts on Hogwarts we can protect the Muggleborn students without having to disrupt their studies." I say and the room starts to quiet down.

"How do you plan on getting people to agree to leave their homes?" Billingsgate asks when he realizes that everyone is starting to grow on my idea.

"I believe the Muggleborns will come on their own will once we make the plan available to them. I don't plan on forcing anyone to relocate and it will be strictly voluntary. But as a Muggleborn, I know they will want to stay safe since the last war is still fresh in our memories." I reply.

"Okay but how will the school stay safe? With that many people in one place?" Billingsgate asks and I know he's trying to challenge me.

"Since Aurors are committed to protecting the Muggleborns as well, they can patrol the grounds at different times. We have the means to keep them safe." I reply and the rest of the committee members begin to nod in agreement. Billingsgate begins to open his mouth again but I interrupt.

"No one has spoken up about any other ideas so it seems Hogwarts is our best bet. Let's do a vote. Those who favor the Hogwarts idea?" I ask and everyone raises their hands in vote. Even Billingsgate, after much hesitation and watching everyone else raise their hands, followed. I smile in triumph and feel proud of myself for my idea. I acted as Head of Committee today and it felt good that things actually went my way.

"Ok I think that concludes the session. The Hogwarts idea has been approved, you're all dismissed." Billingsgate says, taking back his authority. People begin to shuffle out and I follow. The last thing I want is to be stuck in the committee room with Billingsgate while he's in a mood.

Besides, now I have to go to meet Draco.