Draco C. Malfoy

Hermione, we're back in New London. I don't know if you've heard, but Mother will have to be Hydra's chaperone for the remainder of the summer, so we've had to cut our holiday short. Shame it had to happen before Barty Crouch made one of his "surprise arrivals" at the weekend to liven up the party.

That's not so important, though. Father's informed me that Yaxley put in some kind of request to access my Private Messages. He didn't get what he wanted - Father said he could be looking for anything, be it indiscretions, family secrets, or whatnot. And while Father didn't necessarily say as much I don't imagine that Yaxley has any grudge against me. It's more politics and jockeying for power, no doubt. Still, if he had got his eyes on our writings...well, I shan't finish that unlovely thought. Hardly worth it, is it? Terrible things would have happened... Odd how a person can almost get used to living with a certain kind of constant uncertainty.

Anyway, I already told Harry about all of this, but you ought to know, too. I thought it was Auntie Bella we'd have to be worried about, but I ought to have known she would have shouldered the journals onto somebody else. Hopefully, the Aurors can keep Yaxley out. Better yet, perhaps someone will squash him permanently - and soon.

Also.

I've been thinking about what Hydra's told me about her father - how he must have tracked her or spied on her with one of his devices.

Now, what a lucky thing that it was only her virtue in question, and not her loyalty.

My parents aren't invasive as Hydra's, fortunately, but nevertheless it's a turn of events that, paired with Yaxley's inquiry, has convinced me more than ever that I must maintain an impeccable charade of tow-row-row. Harry, I'll be going to the next Slytherin social, no matter who hosts it. I reckon I'll take Daphs along as my plus-one again, since it worked well enough last time. Might be good if you made an appearance now and then, too. Or else I can tell everyone that you're very busy working closely with your "Dad," if you prefer - that'd certainly stop any questions.

So who of us has been invited to CCF camp? I already know that Harry and I have been, and Daphs told me yesterday that she was in, too.

I wonder what sort of excitement is in store for us this time around.

Harry, you missed an utterly posh gathering at Avery's yesterday. Plenty of drinks, food, music, and games. No deep topics of conversation whatsoever. It was restful, in a way.

We need to tell the others what happened. You need to.

Mind, I'm not entirely keen on the idea, because at least three of them will probably over-react in a variety of unhelpful ways. But...they need to know. Especially if they'll be at the wedding.

All right, I stayed up late to finish looking over Bum's parchments and nodded off before I could get through them all. Woke up early to get through the rest.

We snatched a whole stack of them, and since they were right on top, most seem to be recent. I think the very top stack are things she meant to send to someone soon, and the stuff on the bottom are things she just recently received in the owl post. Some are letters, and others are detailed notes about the school that she drew up, presumably to be sent off to someone else. Though who knows, I suppose it could be for her own records. We pulled from two parchment piles but had to hide before really processing how they were organised.

A few of the letters are to people she considers chums, and are written in that sick, simpering way of hers. Short and not very interesting; talk of the weather and "how is your dear Father's spattergroit?" Addressed to people with names like Aggie and Rina. In addition to those there's a lot of other rubbish. A tonne of order receipts for rosewater sweets and "ladies pink foundation garment, size 'well fluffed'." Those should be enormously useful, emphasis on enormous.

Now, I did find a few letters from Strangeweale, the Councilmember. They're all more or less requests for "progress reports" on something or another. Some seem to laud her for her "assistance in the matter," and others seem a little pushier, with him saying things like "refocus your efforts," and reminding her to keep "their mutual goals" in mind. Most curious of all, there's one that seems to be all about OWL exams, which contains this bit: "Related to our conversation about charms related to exam performance, here's a list of 5 that would make it impossible for someone to write a coherent theoretical exam."

So, it seems that Bum wanted to see certain of the student body fail OWLs. Colour me shocked. Oh, she also has a letter of complaint to some shopkeeper about how "these blood quills aren't proving a successful deterrent for wayward students. Please do send me a more severe prototype at your earliest convenience." Are we really sure we don't want to drop the plate?

But anyway, Strangeweale's letters are otherwise short and banal. Possibly encoded in case of interception (though it'd have to be a fairly uncomplicated code, for her to suss out). It seems he didn't really want to chat with her about how the weather's been in New London, or whether or not her well-fluffed foundation garments itch or not. Fancy that.

And as I said before, she was keeping notes, and some of them are on expendable people - halfbloods, in this case (though neither the word expendable nor halfblood appear in the notes). On the list we've got, there's Hopkins, Stebbins, Capper, Fawcett, Li, Bundy, Corner, Jones, Perks, Summers, Brocklehurst, Midgen, Stein, Zimmerman, Finch-Fletchley and Lovegood. On a separate parchment, she'd put together notes on each person from the list. She mentions how Hopkins, Stebbins, and Summers all come from negligent foster families who barely write, don't keep their fosterlings well-clothed, and so forth. She notes how Capper's exam anxiety could be used against him for expulsion. She also mentions the families of Midgen and Corner and how they do care for their charges since both live with actual blood relatives; she adds, though, that their families aren't "the least bit well-connected." Last on that page she mentions Luna Lovegood, who she notes is "actually a pureblood and may, for that reason, be even better suited." So, good news, Lovegood. Someone still thinks you're a pureblood.

Then, on the second page of the list, she has details about the rest. Sally Anne, she says you've become too well-connected, but she also points out that the Strettons don't like you one bit. For Megan Jones, Bum remarks that she's become "so very useful," and says that she hopes she can be allowed "this one little indulgence." And then there's an extra long bit about you, Finch-Fletchley. About how you'd be such a fascinating subject, given your background and parentage; unfortunately, she also seems to think that you're too high risk, and that if anything happened to you there'd be inquiries.

My own conclusion is that the lists of expendable people are connected to whatever Strangeweale is working on and was writing to Bumbridge about. Still, there's not really solid evidence connecting the two together. And we still don't know what, exactly, he was doing. Is doing.

(Practice)

It isn't that you kept a secret - I understand that part. It's WHAT you kept secret. Only everything about yourself, practically It's like in all this time I haven't really known you. I mean the real you. The one who Sally Anne and Weasley know better than I do. And how many bloody private messages exist between you three? ("Fisheye") (Seems you'd rather live with Sally Anne than be married to me, when we're older)

I always thought you loved me best but you don't. And I can't help it I need to be loved best. Just by one person, just one person that I love, too. I always thought it was Mother but now I know she doesn't, and know I know you don't either But then - what's wrong with me? That I need to be loved best? And why did I never see or suspect that there was so much more to you?

I don't know if you really see everything about ME, either, you know. Did you even think about how revealing everything to me would make me feel? How it would shred apart everything I thought I knew? Or did you just want to get it over with so you could finally feel unburdened? At least some her someone thought about how it would make me feel (Strike and don't mention that)

Sometimes, looking back on it, it seems like we've been playing pretend. I thought we could be the perfect couple my parents pretend to be, only we'd be real, but if what they are isn't real then how can it be modeled properly?

I'm just too confused and tired to pretend anymore. I know you're going to be sad and for that I'm sorry, but at least you have others you can turn to. The ones you've always gone to.

Here goes then. Fucking bugger.

Everyone - Bumbridge stormed in before the rest of us were out. She was practically spitting bile at Harry. Cedric, too. Weasley almost raised his wand to her, but I stopped him. Somehow, he failed to notice she was using Hermione as a human shield - that's how Bumbridge found us, she has Hermione under Imperius.

Because of that, Harry and Cedric had no choice but to go with her to her office. She ordered the rest of us to stay put, threatened to toss us into the camps, but was daft enough to only confiscate Harry and Cedric's wands. 

She's very puffed up and pleased right now, having caught the Tri-wizard Champion and the Head Boy in the middle of rule-breaking. I'm not sure if that makes her more dangerous, or less so.  

We can't give her the opportunity to question them at length or get MLE involved. Two groups, right now: one for a diversion and the other to hide near her office for the extraction. I'll lead the extraction. Weasley will take the diversion.