Half-Blood Prince Pt. 1: Suspicion

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Hermione Pov

Once Hermione left Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with Ron and Harry, they headed towards the now deserted area of Diagon Alley that was neighboring the joke shop. "How are Fred and George doing it? Half the Alley's closed down," Hermione asked in amazement.

"Fredrick is big on selling Love Potions these days. I reckon he's right," Ron responded, using the nickname he had given Fred in the last year.

Hermione gasped as the group grew closer to the shop that used to be Ollivander's but now just looked destroyed and deserted. "Oh no! Everyone got their wands from Ollivander's."

Harry pushed open the creaky door, though, theoretically, they could have just gone through the broken window. Looking around, the shop had wands strewn everywhere, along with the broken glass from the window. Over at the window, Ron was looking out and evidently saw something because he spoke in an urgent tone. "Harry!" Hermione ignored him but when Ron continued, her attention caught. "Is it just me, or do Draco and his mummy look like two people who don't want to be followed?" Hermione quickly looked over his shoulder and couldn't help but agree.

Draco had grown taller since the last time she had seen him but he was noticeably skinnier and his face was paler and gaunter. The contrast between his skin and his black suit was so harsh that he looked sick. Still, his aristocratic features were still there and he was still as handsome as he was last year. Her stomach sank, though, when she saw that his mother was leading him into what was unmistakably Knockturn Alley.

All summer she had been trying to contact him but he hadn't responded through any form of communication. She had texted him, called him, even sent a Patronus to Malfoy Manor with no response. She hadn't worried too much because of what had happened in their fourth year where he had gotten locked out of his phone, but seeing him going into Knockturn brought up all her anxieties again.

Harry nodded in agreement to Ron's statement and motioned for them to follow him. They rounded the corner and headed into the dark alley. Harry led them through the twists and turns, always keeping Draco in sight. The walls were lined with a lot of wanted posters, including Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir Greyback, Antoin Dolohov, and none other than Lucius Malfoy. As they were nearing the end of the alley, the group passed the man who was always there, whispering to the wall.

Draco and his mother turned on the street where Borgin & Burkes resided and Hermione's gut feeling that something bad was going on was confirmed. Not wanting to be seen, the group climbed up on the roof of Borgin and Burkes after Draco had gone inside. They had a full view into the shop where four men wearing black cloaks were talking to Draco. One of the men gestured to a black cabinet in the corner of the shop and Draco reluctantly walked over to examine it.

After he inspected it, Draco nodded and his mother kissed him on his cheek. Hermione heard Harry shift up the roof a tad to see better. Suddenly a head popped up in the window and all three of them ducked down. Hermione took a tiny peek and saw it was Greyback. The werewolf swiftly closed the window and their view was blocked.

Hermione didn't know what was going on with Draco. She had an unpleasant suspicion that it had something to do with the Dark Lord -- especially since Greyback was there. She hoped that if Draco was having anything unwanted pushed on him, he would let her help him or at least tell her about it. She knew there was a fat chance he was being threatened to do whatever he was doing, but that one part of herself couldn't help but wonder if he was doing it of his own free will. She quickly squashed that theory and decided to talk to him at school about it as soon as she got the chance.

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"So what was Draco doing with that weird-looking cabinet; and who were all those people? Don't you see? It was a ceremony. An initiation," Harry finished by answering his own question.

Hermione rolled her eyes. She knew what he was referring to and she didn't want to believe him. "Stop it, Harry. I know where you are going with this."

"It happened. He's one of them," Harry insisted.

"One of what?" Ron asked in confusion, obviously not able to follow the conversation.

"Harry is under the impression that Draco Malfoy is now a Death Eater," Hermione explained patiently.

"You're barking. What would You Know Who want with someone like Malfoy?" Ron asked Harry.

"Well, then what was he doing in Borgin & Burkes? Browsing for furniture?" At this point, Hermione knew Harry was just searching for reasons to hate Draco even more.

"It's a creepy shop; he's a creepy bloke," Ron said simply.

"Look, his father is a Death Eater. It only makes sense. Besides, Hermione saw it with her own eyes." Harry was referring to what she had mentioned on Platform 9 3/4 about seeing Draco show one of the men his arm. It could have been a Dark Mark, but Hermione refused to believe that's what it was.

"I told you, I don't know what I saw."

There was a pause and Harry stood up, "I need some air." He grabbed the Invisibility Cloak off the shelf and left the compartment without waiting for an acknowledgment. Hermione just knew Harry was going to attempt something with Draco and that she couldn't do anything to stop it. She shifted a little farther away from Ron on the bench since he had been shifting closer and resumed her book. Usually, Draco and she would compare schedules after they got them, but she hadn't been able to talk to him yet so she just hoped they had one of their classes the same so she could confront him.

I'm back!!!! I know, I know, it's been a while but I'm here now. Hope you're ready for the angst. I've been busy but I have time freeing up again and I'm ready to get back to writing. Hope you liked this chapter. Also the train scene I just wrote actually happens in the movie but I couldn't find a clip on YouTube so the clip I posted actually happens right after the scene I wrote. If you find this scene clip on YouTube let me know so I can put it in here. If you have access to the movie, check this scene out and let me know if I got the dialogue right. I have a few questions for you that you can just comment the answers to. 

1. Where did you find this fanfiction?

2. Any ideas for scenes to do in any of the remaining movies? I can't promise I'll do them, but if there's a really good one, I'll do it. 

Please comment and vote.

-Ms. Scarlet


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