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Draco stepped into his dorm room, placing his essay carefully on his desk. He placed a small silver box on top of it to keep it from blowing away during the night and moved to his bed to get into his pyjamas. His eagle-owl, Landok was waiting with a letter attached to its foot.

“Hey boy,” Draco said, petting the owl’s head. “What’s this you’ve got?”

He opened the envelope and found two letters inside. One of them had ‘read first’ written on the outside. He shrugged and did as instructed. It was from his father.

Son,
Enclosed is a special project that my employer wishes for you to try your hand at. The rewards will be more than you could even imagine.
Father.

Draco scowled. His employer. Vague-speak for Voldemort. Draco wondered what exactly Voldemort wanted from him. He was only a student, there was nothing he could really do.

He opened the other letter and read over it.

Mr Malfoy Jr,
The contents of this letter must be kept in the strictest of confidences. If the contents of this letter are spilled to even one of your acquaintances, the punishment for such a betrayal will be great. I am entrusting you with a special task.
Currently at your school, there is a girl, sixteen years of age. I believe her to be a new pupil, and in Slytherin as I was. This girl is my daughter. I would very much like for you to confirm her name for me, Mr Malfoy. Once again, I am entrusting you with this task, and await your response by owl no later than midnight tomorrow night.
V.

Draco swallowed hard. There weren’t any new pupils in Slytherin except for the first years who were either eleven or twelve years old. The only new sixteen-year-old student to have come to Hogwarts wasn’t even in Slytherin either. She was in Gryffindor.

Draco’s heart sank.

Buffy.

Draco went to breakfast, racing up the stairs from the dungeons that housed the Slytherin dormitories. He raced into the Great Hall, thankful that Buffy was apparently an early riser and was already at breakfast. He went to where she sat and grabbed hold of her arm.

“We need to talk.”

Buffy stood immediately, hearing the note of panic in his voice.

Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at each other in confusion, wondering what Draco Malfoy could possibly have to say to Buffy that couldn’t wait. They were even more surprised when Buffy went with Draco without even a look back at her three friends.

Draco pulled her out of the Great Hall and outside. They went down the front steps and behind a wall.

“What’s wrong?” Buffy asked.

Draco was fidgeting badly. He withdrew a letter from his pocket and handed it to her. She took it and skimmed over it, her heart sinking as she read the words. She cursed softly under her breath and looked at Draco.

“Have you replied?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I couldn’t. After last night, I just…I couldn’t.”

“Thank you.”

Buffy closed her eyes and leant against the wall, trying to get her thoughts to stop moving so quickly through her mind.

“So, you knew?” Draco asked. “You knew about being his daughter?”

Buffy nodded. “I only just found out before I came to Hogwarts.”

“And Potter and the others? Do they know?”

“Of course not!” Buffy replied. “My father killed Harry’s parents. I can’t just go up to him and say ‘oh, hey Harry, by the way, Voldemort’s my dad. Let’s be pals’. Sure, that’ll work brilliantly!”

“Calm down,” Draco said in a hushed whisper, worried that someone could come out and hear them at any moment. “Look, I don’t know what to do. I can’t ignore this message. He’s expecting a reply and…if I lie and say there’s no new student, I’m gonna get killed.”

Buffy swallowed hard and re-read the letter that was stilt in her shaking hands. “Well, we’ve got until tomorrow night, right.”

“Wrong. I got this last night. Just after I got back from the library.”

Buffy began wondering what Draco’s choice would have been had they not had their little bonding session in the library the evening before. Today could have been horribly different if they hadn’t come to some sort of a truce the evening before.

“Maybe we should go to Dumbledore,” Draco suggested. “He’d know what to do. I mean…you must have been brought here for a reason, right?”

Buffy nodded, though she still had no idea what that reason truly was. She knew within herself that she would never –could never- work for Voldemort, killing people just because they didn’t have parents who were from the wizarding world. The Ministry had seen to it that she was raised on the side of light, rather than the dark, and that light was a deep part of her now.

“So…Dumbledore?”

Draco nodded and they headed back inside the Castle.

They met Dumbledore who had just been coming out of his office, both Buffy and Draco panting for breath. Dumbledore couldn’t help but be worried by the sight of the two of them together. He was used to seeing Buffy with Harry and the others, but this was a very new development which he found vaguely disturbing.

“Miss Summers, Mr Malfoy,” Dumbledore greeted. “You two seem troubled.”

“We are. Troubled,” Buffy replied. She handed over the note that had been sent to Draco, Dumbledore’s eyes filling with worry as he read the message.

“Strange…no one knows of your transfer here to Hogwarts except Professor Giles, myself and Mr Crouch,” Dumbledore mused. “Perhaps a select few at the Council.”

“The Watcher’s Council?” Buffy asked. “Could any of them have been working for Vol…You-Know-Who?”

Dumbledore looked at the young girl. “You can say his name, Miss Summers. Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself. And as for a Council member working for Voldemort, it is quite possible. The Head of Council is a muggle who has no knowledge of Voldemort’s influence. It is possible that they could have Death-Eaters working there for them.”

“And could one of the select few have been a Death-Eater?” Buffy asked.

“It is possible,” Dumbledore replied. He turned to look at Draco. “Would you please go and retrieve Professor Giles. I believe he’d wish to know what has happened.”

Draco nodded, not understanding the connection between Buffy and Professor Giles, but knowing that the Headmaster had his reasons for wanting the DADA Professor.

“We’ll be in my office,” Dumbledore said.

Draco nodded and turned down the hall, heading to the DADA classroom that housed Professor Giles’ quarters. He ran into the room, thankful that it was still too early for classes to have started. He raced up the stairs to the room behind the classroom and knocked frantically on the door.

Giles opened the door, expecting it to be Buffy. When he saw Draco however, he could only wonder what was going on.

“Professor, there’s trouble,” Draco said, breathlessly. “Professor Dumbledore needs you in his office.”

Giles nodded and turned back to grab his cloak and his wand, following Draco down the hallway. Draco deliberately ignored the looks that he got from Harry, Ron and Hermione as they passed, whispering to themselves in silent question. First Buffy, then Professor Giles. They were dying with curiousity to find out what was going on.

Draco and Giles made their way to Dumbldedore’s office, Giles speaking the password and ushering Draco onto the stairs that led up to Dumbledore’s section of the castle.

“Rupert,” Dumbledore greeted.

Giles nodded and looked around the room, his eyes becoming worried when he saw his young charge already seated at the table.

Buffy turned and gave him a half-hearted smile. Dumbledore motioned for both Draco and Giles to be seated.

“Ah…a servant of my master.”

Buffy sat up straight in her chair and looked around the room. She’d heard a voice coming from behind and above her.

“What is it?” Giles asked.

“Someone’s in here,” she said

Dumbledore looked around the room, but couldn’t see anything out of place.

“There’s no one here.”

“I heard a voice,” Buffy insisted. She stood and began searching the room. She mounted the stairs and looked out over the room. A curled up coil on top of the bookstand caught her attention.

“Professor Dumbledore, you aren’t missing a snake are you?”

Dumbledore stood and mounted the stairs, looking to where Buffy’s gaze was fixed.

Nagini panicked and quickly uncurled, dropping itself off the bookstand and trying to move towards the door.

“Stop!” Buffy called.

Nagini stopped, startled by the demand that had been given in its own language.

“Who are you?” Buffy asked.

“Nagini,” it replied.

“Who do you serve?”

“The Dark Lord.”

Buffy didn’t take her eyes off the snake, not trusting it for a minute.

“Giles, this snake here seems to think it serves Voldemort. I’m feeling a strong urge to kill it.”

Giles threw her a silver letter opener that was on Dumbledore’s desk, Draco’s eyes going wide as he saw Buffy catch the weapon without even turning towards her mentor.

“My apologies, Nagini, but spying just isn’t as safe as it used to be.”

Nagini flickered its tongue and tried to slither out of the room, but Buffy just aimed carefully and threw the silver weapon at the snake, lodging the blade into the snake’s brain. Nagini stiffened and slumped to the ground, leaving Buffy breathing hard. A sudden thought hit her. She’d just been talking to a snake! She’d understood it and made it understand her. Weird.

She turned to look at Giles, hoping her would have an explanation for her. He looked incredibly worried.

“We were lucky you heard it in the first place,” Giles said. “If you hadn’t, there’s no telling what that snake could have heard.”

“I was really just talking to it, wasn’t I?” Buffy asked.

Dumbledore walked towards the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. He led her to one of the chairs and gently pushed her into it.

“You, Miss Summers, are what we call a Parselmouth. It means you can speak Parseltongue, the language of serpents. It is a gift that was given to you from your father,” Dumbledore explained.

“Don’t suppose he accepts refunds?”

Dumbledore chuckled slightly and took his own seat behind his desk. He picked up Draco’s letter and handed it to Giles who read it with increasing worry. No wonder Draco had looked so shaky earlier.

“When did you receive this letter Mr Malfoy?” Giles asked.

“Last night,” Draco replied.

Giles nodded.

“Professor Dumbledore said that someone in the Council could have been a Death-Eater,” Buffy told him.

Giles’ eyes narrowed. He shook his head. “I would have known if there were any Death-Eaters amongst the Council members. There were only five people, not including myself or Mr Merrick who knew who you truly are.”

“And no one could have been told after you’d left England? You’ve been looking after me for nearly three years,” Buffy reminded him.

Giles nodded, conceding the possibility. “I suppose that it could be possible. They’d have to be a trusted member of Council though to be told of your transfer to Hogwarts.”

“Could you find out?” Buffy asked.

Giles nodded, fairly certain that he could make a few inquiries both at the Ministry and within the Council.

“Until then, Mr Malfoy, I’d suggest you go back to your dormitory and answer the letter,” Dumbledore said.

Draco’s eyes went wide. “You want me to tell You-Know-Who that Buffy’s the only new student?”

Dumbledore laughed and shook his head. “Of course not, my dear boy. You’re to tell Voldemort that there are no new students of that age in Slytherin, but that you will keep an eye out in case you hear of any students being tutored privately.”

Draco nodded and stood, desperately hoping that he wouldn’t get killed for what he was about to send back. He really hated his father being a Death-Eater.

Buffy too stood and moved to follow Draco out the door.

“Be careful, both of you. You’re friends will be suspicious of your sudden truce. Might I suggest that you tell them that you were merely discussing another rematch,” Dumbledore said.

“Sir, Potter and his friends saw me with Professor Giles,” Draco said.

“Well, in that case, you can tell them that Professor Giles walked in on the rematch and was taking Mr Malfoy to see me.”

Buffy and Draco nodded and raced out of the office, not wanting to be late for their first class. Snape would not be pleased if they were late.

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