𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 - 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲 (𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟐)

20 - Murderess Escapee

The next morning...

My hands trembled slightly as I held the morning Daily Prophet paper at breakfast. "It's gonna be alright, Caroline," Ginny assured me, resting a hand on my shoulder. But I couldn't hear my friends as I stared down at the headline.

MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN

Thirteen high security prisoners were broken out of Azkaban last night at around eleven PM. The Muggle prime minister has been alerted of the danger. We strongly suspect that the escape was engineered by the man with personal experience escaping from Azkaban; mass murderer, Sirius Black, cousin of escapee, Bellatrix Lestrange.

I sat next to Ginny and Neville in silence; Neville seemed a little on edge with the news as well. I wondered if it had to do with Bellatrix. I fixed my view on Draco, who sat across the room at Slytherin table by himself. He seemed a bit out of it. His newspaper sat on the table in front of him, but all he could muster was a blank stare. Unfortunately, he caught me staring. As his eyes turned to mine, I snapped my head back to the newspaper, trying to conceal the fear that lingered on my face. I didn't need Draco to see me worried.

DRACO'S POV

I stared at the newspaper. He's really back. This meant my parents forcing me onto their side. This meant my Father getting involved again. This meant Caroline's safety went right out the window. I looked up from my paper to see her staring at me, before she turned back to her newspaper. She'd gone white, as if she saw a ghost. I could tell she was trying to conceal her emotions, and she did a damn good job, but her bloodshot eyes told me everything. She was bloody terrified.

Before I could do anything, she stood up and stormed out the great hall doors, the newspaper crumpled in her fist. I followed carefully after her; where the hell was she going? She turned into the courtyard, throwing the newspaper onto the ground after having ripped it to shreds with her fingers. "Caroline," I said quietly. She turned around, her eyes prickled with tears, threatening to fall at any moment.

She stood silently, but she couldn't take it any longer. Her knees buckled beneath her, and I caught her as she collapsed into my arms. "I can't do this Draco, I can't fucking do this," she sobbed into my chest as we sat crumpled on the floor. "It's gonna be okay, I'll keep you safe," I wrapped my hands tightly around her as she trembled in my chest. "She's gonna, she's gonna kill me," she stuttered on her words, my robes soaking in her tears. "No she isn't," I mumbled quietly in her ear.

"She's gonna kill my Dad," she was shaking at this point, gasping for air. "Shh, breathe, just breathe," I rubbed her back. I hated seeing her like this. "Just breathe," I whispered as she laid her head on my shoulder. I leaned against the wall, pulling her into my lap, raising a hand to brush the tears off of her cheeks. "I'm gonna protect you, I promise, under any circumstance, you hear me?" she stared into my eyes. "Do you promise?" she choked.

"I promise."

We sat in silence, her in my arms. "How'd you know I was upset?" she asked quietly. "Your eyes," I answered. "You were also silent. You're always silent when something's bothering you, so am I," I said. "I'm gonna go unpack," she stood, wiping her eyes one last time. "Alright," I stood. "Anything happens, you tell me," I said. She nodded before walking back into the corridors.

CAROLINE'S POV

I entered the common room to see Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron sitting silently in front of the fireplace. They looked at me, motioning for me to sit, but didn't say a word. My eyes were red, and my hair messy. I probably looked bloody stupid. "What do we do?" Ron asked quietly. "Keep training, we knew this might happen," Harry said. "It doesn't feel real," I mumbled. "We're practicing with patronuses again tonight, that'll cheer you up," Ginny rubbed my back. To be completely honest, that did sound quite fun.

We sat around in the common room all day until it came time to go back to Dumbledore's Army. We all conversed in the room of requirement about the news. "Alright everyone, we're going to have to train as hard as possible for us to beat Voldemort's army," Harry explained. "Today we'll be reviewing Patronuses." he exclaimed. We got into our groups.

"Remember, make it a powerful memory, the happiest you've ever felt. A full body patronus is the most difficult to muster," he exclaimed. The room filled with incantations and blue light, everyone's animals dancing and prancing in the air around us. I watched mesmerized as my butterfly swooped around me gracefully.

The chandelier began to shake, the lights flickering slowly. "What's happening?" Luna asked. I walked up to the peep hole in the door, my wand in hand, to see Umbridge and the Inquisitorial Squad. "Draco," I whispered under my breath. "Everybody back!" I yelled. "Bombarda Maxima," Umbridge yelled. The bricks in the walls came flying towards us, sending me backwards; I had to do something before someone got hurt.

As I hit the ground forcefully, I took all the energy I could muster, Creating a large golden forcefield with my hand, holding my wand in the other to make it seem as though I'd casted the spell. Nobody needed to know what I'd actually done. The force field worked quite successfully, bricks bouncing backwards as the attempted to impale my magic. Once every brick had fallen to the ground, I let go.

Draco peered in, concern washed over his face as he saw what I'd done. They'd found us. "Emendo," I muttered, sowing my hands before any questions could be asked of me. We all stood and looked in awe; out of all people, Cho Chang had snitched on us. Not Draco, not even a Slytherin. Bloody Cho Chang. "Get them." Umbridge demanded.

Draco walked over to me, grabbing my arms and forcing them behind my back harshly. All I could do was stare at him in anger. The Inquisitorial Squad marched us to Dumbledore's office proudly, holding us like trophies. "You did well," Draco whispered carefully in my ear as we walked. He could tell I was aggravated. Umbridge spoke angrily as we walked into Dumbledore's office, The Minister of Magic standing right beside her.

"You alright?" he asked as we stood to the side, watching as Umbridge lectured Dumbledore on our actions. "Been better, thanks," I sneered. I relaxed a bit as he let go of my wrists, intertwining my hands with his instead. Percy held Harry and Cho. Harry was pissed. "Your student's actions have directly defied Ministry orders, we will have to take action immediately," Umbridge smiled.

"It had nothing to do with him, it was me," Harry stepped in. "That's very noble of you Harry, but the parchment clearly says Dumbledore's Army, not Harry's," Dumbledore exclaimed calmly, sitting in his chair. "I instructed Harry to create this group, and I alone am responsible for it's activity,' Dumbledore continued. I could see the distress in Harry's face.

"Shacklebolt," The Minister pointed to one of his little minions. "You will escort Dumbledore to Azkaban prison, where he will await trial for conspiracy, and sedition," he said. "No," I muttered under my breath. Draco held my hands tighter. "Ah, I thought we might hit this little snag, I have no intention on going to Azkaban," Dumbledore smiled. "Enough of this. TAKE HIM," Umbridge hissed. I saw Dumbledore give a small wink to Harry, as his pet phoenix flew above him. He clasped his hands around the bird, and within a snap, they had dissapeared into thin air. We all stood there in awe.

"You may not like him Minister, but you can't deny, Dumbledore's got style," one of the men said, a small smirk on his face. Umbridge lined us up, the Inquisitorial members still behind us. "Each and every one of you will receive a week's worth of detention," she yelled at us. "Professor," Draco said suddenly. "What is it dear?" she smiled sweetly. "May I ask the honor of watching over these detentions? To make sure they don't pull anything more?" He asked, a huge smirk on his face.

"That would be great. Thank you Mr. Malfoy," she waved us off, instructing the Inquisitorial Squad members to escort us back to our common rooms. "What was that for?" I asked, his hands still in mine as he walked behind me. "So you won't be alone."