Infamy
It was the end of February and Draco was walking through Hogsmeade with his friends. It was the second visit of that term, and they were planning to go to the Three Broomsticks. Draco hadn't wanted to go, he still felt distant and disconnected from his friends, but they hadn't taken 'no' for an answer.
He was tired. The cabinet was coming along well, one or two more sessions and it would be ready. His classes were easy, and his life in general was a lot better than it had been the previous semester. Still, he was plagued with stress and anxiety about the upcoming war through every moment of the day and into his dreams. He could barely sleep through the night. He woke up from dreams, or sometimes from nothing at all in a cold sweat. He was paranoid about being found out, being killed, Amira being hurt, and his family. He was sure it couldn't be good for his health.
He missed Amira so badly. He had thought the ache would ease, but it didn't. Every day he woke up with the same pang and it lasted through the entire day. They wrote, but it wasn't the same. He longed to see her, hold her, kiss her.
His thoughts were on her, so he almost thought he hallucinated what he heard next.
"Amira?"
Draco snapped his head up at Daphne's words. He looked to where she was looking. They were just in front of the Three Broomsticks and leaning against the wall, looking angelic in her winter coat with snow in her dark hair, was Amira.
"Hello," she said to their friends. Draco's heart pounded in shock and excitement.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to sound calm but probably failing.
She smiled and walked over to him. He wanted to grab her and hug her, but they were in public and that was a gray area.
"I have the day off," she said. "And I was told I needed to know the layout of the town. So I may or may not have timed it to this weekend."
"Well we can definitely show you around," Millie said excitedly. Pansy rolled her eyes. Draco barely noticed. He was just beyond excited to see her.
"You don't have to stay undercover?" Theo asked.
"No one knows what I look like," she shrugged. "Plus, no one who doesn't already know me will notice me. Nifty charm."
"That's so smart," Daphne said, "We have to go shopping!"
"Honeydukes first?" Millie suggested. There wasn't much of a discussion, but they all went happily. Draco hung back with Amira and let the others lead the way.
"I'm happy to see you," he murmured.
"Me too," she said softly. "Sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't know until this morning."
"When do you need to know the area by?" he asked covertly.
"I'm not sure yet, I think the same time as your task needs to be done," she said.
"And then it will begin," he said ominously.
"It will begin before that," she corrected. He raised his eyebrows and looked at her. "We can't talk here."
In the candy store, he bought her a chocolate rose and ignored the jeering of his friends. Then, they went to Zonko's. Amira stopped in the doorway.
"It is so chaotic here," she whispered. She touched her necklace, and Draco felt honored that she still wore it and it helped her.
"We can go?" he suggested. He wanted to get some alone time with her anyways, and was pleased when she nodded.
They went back into the cold air and walked around the streets for a time. He led her to the pathway to go oversee the Shrieking Shack so that they could have some privacy.
"How are you?" he asked.
"I'm alright," she said, "How are you?"
"Fine I suppose," he said, "How has life at the Manor been?"
"It's picking up," she admitted, "There's always something going on. Initiations, captures, raids, meetings. It's a little stressful."
"What have you been doing?" he asked.
"Mostly just training on my own now," she answered, "Bella's taken me to survey some possible raid sites. I read. I run. I try to stay out of the way of the other Death Eaters."
"I would think they stay out of your way," Draco laughed. Amira did not. "What's wrong?"
Amira looked around and cast a silencing spell. She looked down at her hands, and Draco's concern mounted. He led her into the woods so that they could sit on a fallen log. He took her hand.
"It's just, he's been inviting more people downstairs, when we train in the dungeons," she said. "He likes them to watch."
"Who?" Draco asked.
"Yaxley," she said and Draco's stomach turned, "And Macnair."
Draco felt like his stomach turned to stone.
"Why?" he asked steadily. She shook her head.
"I don't know," she murmured, "I think it's a game. He's upset that I'm getting too powerful. I'm hiding it from him now but he's seen too much. He wants me to stay weak."
"You aren't weak," Draco told her. She shrugged. “You were never weak.”
"He's been making comments about them… participating in my training soon, if I step out of line," she whispered, "I can fight them, but if he's there, if he oversees it, or even if he orders me not to fight... there's nothing I can do."
"You mean..." Draco said, "They would-"
"Do what they used to," she nodded, "Yes."
Her hands were shaking then, and Draco knew it wasn't from the cold. Red hot anger was coursing through his veins. He wanted to hit someone. He wanted to kill them.
Instead, he pulled her into a hug. He didn't want to say sweet things that meant nothing. He didn't want to promise her that nothing would happen, he couldn't.
"Then you will do as he says, as best as you can." he whispered in her ear, "And if they hurt you, I will kill them myself."
"Draco," she whispered, "I feel so stupid. I can face so much but I'm so scared of him still."
"I know love, but you're not stupid," he assured her, heart hurting, "We will be careful. You will get through this. I'm always going to be there for you."
"I just want you to come back," she said.
"Me too," he said. He knew that even if he was back, there wasn't much he could do to stop them from hurting her. "We need to figure out how we're going to run. We need to be ready."
"I can break these bracelets now," she said, "But we'll have to be sure. And.... I might go a little...."
"Mad?" he asked with a light laugh. She nodded. "That's alright, I'll make sure you don't do anything crazy."
"Where will we run to?" she asked.
"I don't know, we can't go to a town," he thought out loud, "And we'd risk anyone if we go to their house."
Amira looked around the woods, "We could camp out."
"Camp?" he asked, wrinkling his nose slightly.
"We wouldn't need to involve anyone else," she said, "We could get a tent, bring food, money, anything else we need. We could move from place to place. No one would expect it."
"It would make sense," he said, "I don't think my parents would come with us."
"I've been thinking about that too." Amira said, "What if they leave now?"
"What?" Draco asked.
"If they leave now, run, go to the villa or something, he'll be furious," Amira explained, "But you're at Hogwarts, you're safe from his anger. You could write a letter being 'surprised' and condemn their actions. Bella might be punished, maybe me. He'll be distracted enough by the end of the year that I don't think you would suffer."
Draco thought it sounded crazy and terrifying.
"Besides, I doubt we'll be around much longer at that point anyway," she said. "It's the safest for them. And if it isn't safe for you, truly, I could tell you, and you could run too."
"I wouldn't go without you," he protested.
"I don't think you'll have to," she argued.
Draco hated all of it.
"You're right," Draco said, thinking it over.
"I'll start packing a bag with everything we need, you should do the same," Amira told him. "I'll talk to your mother."
"We should shrink it, and carry it on us at all times," Draco added. "We'll never know when it's time."
Amira nodded. She still looked nervous.
"It's going to be okay," he promised her. He could tell they were alone so he pulled her forward for a gentle kiss.
"We should go back," she said when they broke apart, "The others will have noticed we're gone."
"Let them," he dismissed, "I just want to be with you."
She smiled lightly.
"How have things at Hogwarts been?" she asked.
"Honestly very boring," he said, "I'm just anxious to get on with things."
"I feel the same," she said. "Has Severus spoken to you at all?"
Draco raised his eyebrow.
"Only once on the first day of term," he said. Her eyes narrowed.
"What did he say?" she asked.
"Nothing really, it was odd. He was just telling me I had other options," he said.
She nodded, "He's on our side."
"Our side?"
"Yeah, he knows how we feel, but I told him not to drag you into it," she said, "We've been working together."
"On... whatever it is that you can't tell me?" he checked.
"Kind of, but moreso, he's just letting me know the inner structure of the Order," she said, "That way we know who we can contact after."
"Ah," Draco said, "Are you sure you can trust him?"
"Yes," she said.
"Okay," he accepted it. He felt a little better, knowing he didn't have to be wary of Severus any longer.
They walked out of the woods and slowly back towards the village. Draco told her stories of Hogwarts, and pointed out certain sights in the village. They walked all of the way through together until they were standing near the Hogwarts gates. Amira looked up in wonder.
"There is so much magic here," she said in awe. Draco appreciated how consistent she was with her admiration of new magic. She never seemed to get used to it. "Can you feel it?"
"Only a little," he said, "I've been trying more since you taught me."
"Have you been making progress?" she asked, though he could tell her attention was more on the castle than on him.
"Not really," he admitted, "It's like there's a block and I can't get around it."
"Hm," she murmured. "I wish I could just show you."
She turned to him then, eyes wide.
"I could show you, you could read my mind," she said excitedly, "Then you would know what it feels like."
"Except... I can't," he said, "Even if I could read minds, I couldn't read yours."
"I'll work on a way to let you in, you learn how to do it," she said, not phased by the obstacles.
"Alright," he said with a smile. She turned back to Hogwarts.
"I can't believe you get to go here," she sighed. Then, she stiffened and looked around, panicked.
Draco looked to their left and saw his least favorite trio approaching. "Come here."
He turned them and stood discreetly just behind the tree line.
"Was that Potter?" she asked.
"Yeah, I figured it would be better if they didn't see you. If anyone would remember it would be them," Draco said, watching as she peered after them with her eyes narrowed. "What is it?"
"Nothing," she said vaguely, "I just thought.... but it couldn't be."
"Er..." he didn't know what she was talking about, but she didn't seem willing to expand on it.
He saw their friends walking down the road back to Hogwarts as well.
"Should we go say goodbye?" she asked. He inclined his head.
"If you'd like," he allowed. They walked to meet them.
"Oh where have you two been?" Daphne asked.
"More like what have you two been doing?" Blaise asked suggestively.
"Shut it," Draco said good-naturedly.
"We were just catching up," Amira said calmly.
"I'm sure you were," Theo teased. Amira glared at him and his face dropped. Draco had to suppress a laugh.
"I wish you could come back with us," Millie said, "I'd love to get to know you more."
"Yeah me too," Daphne said.
"Well she can't," Pansy snapped. "Which is just fine."
Amira raised her eyebrow and Draco inwardly cringed on Pansy's behalf.
"Do we have a problem Parkinson?" Amira asked calmly. She sounded almost pleasant, but her tone was lined with a cold biting edge.
"Just that you waltz in here six years late and then all of a sudden everyone is obsessed with you," Pansy snarked, "And I don't know why, it's not like you're anything special."
"Pans-" Theo warned.
"Right," Amira said, "You'd prefer they'd be obsessed with you and all of your.... unique and special talents. Remind me, what were they again?"
"I am a Parkinson!" Pansy said hotly. She looked like she was going to go on but Amira yawned then, and stopped her in her tracks. "How dare you?!?"
"Sorry, I'm sorry," Amira said, clearly laughing, "It's just, I got bored."
Blaise and Theo were snickering and even the other girls looked amused. Draco on the other hand was trying to keep it together respectfully but his lips were twitching upwards.
"You're a piece of work," Pansy spat.
"I know," Amira said. Then her face dropped and she looked down at her wrists. "I need to go."
She turned to Draco, "You should all go inside, stay there."
"Is something happening here?" he asked , taking her hand, and feeling her bracelet to see that it was warm.
"I don't think so, but you can never be sure," she said.
"What's happening?" Pansy demanded.
"I'm sure you'll find out soon," Amira said dismissively. Draco shot his friends a look and they took the hint and started walking away.
"Is this it?" he asked, "Your announcement?"
"Probably," she said. "Check the papers tomorrow."
"Be careful," he told her, "I'll write tonight."
"I will if I can, otherwise tomorrow," she promised. With that, she kissed his cheek and then disappeared. He didn't know she could apparate. It had also been soundless. He rushed to catch up with his friends.
The next few hours were awful. He was so worried. He was worried about their plans, her plans for his parents, and what she had been called to do. His friends asked him questions about where they had gone, what they had talked about, and why she'd had to leave them so abruptly. He didn't answer any of them, and eventually, they left him alone. At dinner, Dumbledore was gone, as was Severus. That night, she didn't write to him in his journal. He waited up for hours, until he could stay awake no longer and then fell asleep.
He woke up early the next morning, and forced himself not to go down to breakfast suspiciously early. He went down with his friends and he pretended to eat while he waited for the Daily Prophet to arrive. His stomach clenched when the owls flew in and his newspaper was dropped in front of him. He opened it as nonchalantly as he could, trying to ignore the gasps that rang out throughout the hall.
He unrolled the paper, and was met with Amira's face, front and center.
The Dark Lord's New Right Hand, A Dumbledore?
The picture was in color, which was rare. Her hair was waving around her face with the wind. Her face was fierce, and her eyes pierced through the paper, unmistakably marking her as a Dumbledore. There was fire somewhere behind her, and her cloak billowed in an impressive stance. Power radiated off of her, even from the picture. Bellatrix Lestrange could be seen behind her, laughing manically.
Draco understood the gasps now. Amira looked deadly. She was gorgeous, but her eyes were lined with sharp black makeup, and there were blood splatters on her clothes. Her expression promised unstoppable death and destruction.
Draco skipped down to skim the paper as fast as he could
Last night at around seven pm, there was an attack on Diagon Alley ...
Draco skipped the section about who set off the alarm and when the aurors arrived on the scene.
The Dark Lord was not present, but a number of his well-known followers were there, including Bellatrix Lestrange. Additionally, his newest follower made her first appearance. Amira Dumbledore. On the scene, her name and identity were kept secret, but this morning just after midnight, this author received a tip off from the Dark Lord himself. Her eyes are the unmistakable clue to her heritage, though it is unclear which line she descends from. Her age and background are unknown. What is known is that she single-handedly destroyed any auror who tried to approach her with ease, leading to a retreat of the Ministry, and Diagon Alley was surrendered to the Dark.
There was more, including in depth descriptions of the battle and what they witnessed, but Draco took the opportunity to look up and around the hall. Dumbledore was reading his own paper with a blank expression.
Murmurs were breaking out as the students read. Draco looked over to Potter and his friends. Their faces were shocked, and their fear was not hidden at all. Daphne leaned over to Millie and whispered something. Draco appreciated that his friends were discreet enough not to make it obvious that they knew her, or that Draco knew her well. He leaned over to Theo to keep his cover.
"Look at the headmaster for me," he whispered.
"He looks angry," Theo whispered back. "He's getting up, he's leaving. Oh yeah, he's angry."
"Tell me when he's gone," Draco said.
"You're good now," Theo told him. "She knows how to make a scene."
Draco sighed, "Yes she does."
"Draco, you're gonna have some competition," Blaise said, leaning across the table, "She looks so sexy-"
"If you finish that sentence I will hex you," Draco growled. He looked down to finish reading the article. There wasn't much information on her. Just that there had been 13 fatalities and at least 20 people kidnapped. There were dozens of injured and most of the shops sustained damages. He turned the page. His breath caught in his throat.
On that page, there was another picture of her. In that one, she was casting a spell with a wand. It was fake, Draco knew that Amira barely touched her wand, but it looked convincing. She whipped towards the camera, and her eyes gleamed with the insane light that took over when she did too much. She looked unhinged enough to rival Bella's worst moments. He hoped she had stopped, and that she was okay.
There was a long piece on the possible parentage of Amira, and theories on where she'd been and who trained her. The stories were nonsense. Draco wondered if they were ever going to figure it out.
He watched Potter stand and leave the hall with Granger and Weasley. The teachers and most of the students looked grim. Draco wished he could tell them that she wasn't actually a bad person, and that she wasn't truly on the Dark side. But he couldn't. It would ruin everything, and they wouldn't believe him in the first place. Those pictures were terrifying. And convincing. They were convincing enough that even Draco was worried that Amira had gone too far last night.
He went back to his room to wait for her to write. He couldn't stand to be in front of people any longer.