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A Matter of Time	By : AdaraB Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 7796 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything in the Harry Potter universe. I own nothing and I make no profit off of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter 31 - Options

My Dear Miss Grey,

Please believe me when I say that I have taken a great interest in you. I have heard many wonderful things about you that I am most eager to see for myself. As the newest member of Pureblood society, yes I am the one who has found you are indeed of Pureblood decent; it is my position to induct you into the society which you thus belong and to educate you in what it means to be Pure of Blood. I require you to attend a meeting at the end of your education. The formalities will be sent to you at a later date. I do look forward to seeing you become a defined mark in Pureblood society.

Your Dark Lord

Draco read the letter again, not able to believe that Voldemort had actually sent Ashleigh a letter by his own hand. That at least explained the odd behavior of the owl that delivered it. Voldemort would have seen it as ‘rude’ to drop a letter into someone’s food.

“He intends for me to take his mark at the end of the school year.” She said stoically as she stared at the shattered glass on the floor.

“I don’t think there’s any way around it if I’m made to go to this meeting. Everything he knows about me, everything he knows I can do…He wants to acquire me. He wants to possess me, to use me and then perhaps to throw me away when he is finished with me.

“It’s a threat and a promise all in the same breath. He threatens me because of who I chose to befriend and promises that I will join him in the future.” She stated this while not moving, not blinking and barely breathing. Catching her was all Draco could do when she fell as she passed out, the letter still firmly clutched in her hand.

Draco picked her up, shifting her weight until she was comfortable in his arms and walked over to the fireplace. Setting her feet down, but still supporting her, he grabbed a pinch of floo powder and threw it in the grate before picking her back up and stepping in the green flames and yelled, “Hospital Wing.”

Madam Pomfrey was there directing him to a bed as soon as he appeared in the grate.

“What happened Mr. Malfoy?” She asked in a rush as she ran magical scans over Ashleigh’s body to determine her level of health.

“She’s just fainted Madam Pomfrey. She had quite a shock but I need you to please call Professor Dumbledore and have him come here. There is something he needs to see.”

Once Madam Pomfrey finished her scans and assured herself and Draco that she had indeed fainted and would wake within minutes, she left to make a floo call to the Headmaster.

Draco sat at Ashleigh’s side and held her hand while thinking how things had gone so wrong so fast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Poppy, how is Miss Grey?” Albus asked with a worried look in his normally carefree eyes.

Poppy had intercepted Albus before he went in to the infirmary. She wanted to know what kind of shock could have sent this girl into a coma like state. She hadn’t woken up after fifteen minutes and Poppy was getting worried.

“Other than being unconscious for the past fifteen minutes, she is fine. Albus, what is going on? What could cause this girl to lose consciousness for so long?”

“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it will undoubtedly be the topic of conversation at our next Order meeting.”

When he spoke these words, Poppy moved aside and let the Headmaster enter the infirmary. They found Draco still sitting next to Ashleigh on her hospital bed. Neither had moved.

“Mr. Malfoy?”

Draco turned his head reluctantly toward the Headmaster.

Dumbledore noticed that the boy looked extremely worried. It wasn’t normal for any Malfoy to show so much emotion in a public setting. The fact that Draco is showing so much emotion and not even attempting to hide it told him that the situation is indeed dire. Or at least he thought so.

“What has happened?”

Draco didn’t say anything; he just turned back to stare at Ashleigh. After a few minutes he held out a crumpled piece of parchment toward the Headmaster without taking his eyes off of his girlfriend. Dumbledore accepted the parchment, unfolded it and scanned its contents.

“Draco?”

At the Headmaster’s calling of his name, Draco finally faced him again.

“He won’t get to her, I promise you. I will do everything in my power to protect her. When she wakes please escort her up to my office. I’d like to discuss the nature of this letter and our options.” He said softly.

Draco gave the Headmaster a nod to let him know he understood and turned back to Ashleigh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dumbledore was worried. Never had Voldemort taken such a direct approach to persuade someone to join him. He certainly never told someone they’d be getting the Dark Mark before they’ve proved themselves to him. Things were progressing far too fast with this situation. The next Order meeting would be moved to the following night. Something needs to be done right away to keep Miss Grey safe.

A knock came at the door, surprising the Headmaster for the first time in nearly fifteen years.

“Come in.” Even he knew that his voice sounded tiered and beaten.

Severus walked through the door and sat down in front of the Headmaster’s desk. Surprised that the Headmaster didn’t offer him a lemon drop, he waited for the older man to speak.

“Voldemort sent Miss Grey an owl.”

“Excuse me?” Out of all the tragedies he had expected the Headmaster to tell him…This wasn’t something he would have ever even considered.

“An owl. With a letter.”

“The Dark Lord…sent an owl?” He asked in a long drawl, narrowing his eyes, still not believing.

“Yes Severus. I thought the same. Why would he lower himself to send post when he could have one of his followers do it for him? The only valid reason I can come up with is that he is trying to persuade her, beguile her into joining him. This I can draw conclusion from his mentioning that he is the one that found that she is a Pureblood. His way of telling her that he has abilities, powers that others do not. Although why he wrote in such a blatant demand of her appearance still intrigues me, unless he expects her so fragile that he thinks she will bend to his every whim.”

“Then he is in for a rude awakening. The girl is anything but fragile. May I read the letter?”

Dumbledore handed him the letter and was silent until he looked up a moment later, signaling that he was finished reading and that he understood what it meant.

“This is the first time the Dark Lord has ever offered someone the Dark Mark without meeting them first.”

“I am aware of that Severus.”

“Obviously, the girl will not be able to remain in the castle over the summer as we had originally planned. If she were to stay here, I’d be ordered to take her before the Dark Lord. Potter should not even be an option if that’s what you were thinking. The Dark Lord has been able to get to him on numerous occasions by various methods. It would not be prudent to put them together.”

“We have until the end of the year to figure out where she will be staying in the future. Miss Grey fainted after she received the letter and has not yet woken. When she wakes, I will be meeting with her and Mr. Potter as well as Mr. Malfoy to discuss the situation. I would like you to be present as well.”

Severus nodded his assent and left the Headmaster to his thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco sat by Ashleigh’s side, holding her hand, not taking his eyes off her face. He wanted to be the first thing she saw when she woke up. The only question in his mind was how long that would be. He hadn’t moved from his position in the last hour and he was beginning to wonder if she’d ever wake. Their Gryffindor friends had stopped by for a few minutes about a half hour ago. Harry, Ron and Ginny had Quidditch practice and it was too late to reschedule the practice as their next game is in four days. Hermione had mentioned doing some research before running off for the library. Draco couldn’t blame her really; it was hard for him to see Ashleigh lying motionless as well. He just couldn’t leave her.

After another hour Ashleigh’s eyes finally fluttered open. Seeing Draco sitting next to her and staring at her with a worried expression had her wondering why he was looking at her like that. She knew the letter had upset him as much as it did her but the emotion didn’t quite fit. They both knew that they had almost two months to figure a way out. She had just gone through a phase of shock that she finally felt was over. Draco however, looked as if he hadn’t stopped worrying for hours.

When Draco didn’t say anything Ashleigh got a bit worried and decided to question him.

“Draco, what’s wrong?”

Letting out a deep breath, Draco gave her a slight smile.

“You’re awake.”

“Do you want me to pass out again?” She asked confusedly.

“No. That’s not what I meant. You were unconscious for over two hours. I was just glad that the Headmaster hooked all the fireplaces in the school up to the floo network last year so that we could floo to the hospital wing in an emergency. It wouldn’t have been easy carrying you all the way up here.”

“Are you trying to tell me that I need to lose weight?” She asked with a playful smile.

“Not likely. You’re pretty perfect the way you are.”

Ashleigh smiled as she sat up in bed and leaned forward to capture his lips in a sweet kiss. Pulling away slightly so that her lips were just centimeters away from hers, she looked into his eyes and whispered, “I love you.”

Draco took a moment to process what she had just told him and then pulled her to him and crushed her mouth against his. After a few moments he let her go and grabbed hold of her face. Staring into her eyes he replied, “I love you too. I think I’ve always loved you.”

With a smile he pulled her head so that his lips could meet hers again. He didn’t let her go until they were both breathless.

“We need to go; we have to meet Professor Dumbledore in his office. He wants to discuss any options we may have. Harry will be joining us.” Looking down at his watch he noticed it was almost quarter to one.

Ashleigh hopped off the bed and stood up to stretch. As soon as her arms went over her head her stomach let out a low rumble.

“I’m sure the Headmaster will forgive us if we eat lunch first. I’m sure we’ll see Harry there as the Gryffindor’s Quidditch practice just ended.”

“Don’t we have to wait for Madam Pomfrey to let me go?” She asked as she slipped her shoes back on. Draco had taken them off an hour and a half ago.

“No. She said your vitals were good and that you could leave as soon as you woke."

Down in the Great Hall, their Gryffindor friends were already at their table eating lunch. Joining them in their usual spots, they exchanged pleasantries before they were bombarded with questions.

“I really can’t say right now. Harry; you, Draco and I have to speak to the Headmaster about something after we finish here.” Ashleigh told him vaguely. She’d noticed that Lavender and Parvati were listening closely.

Draco quickly changed the topic to the Gryffindor’s Quidditch practice.

“Oh yes, how did it go?” Ashleigh asked. She had been planning to watch them practice so that she could study their maneuvers.

“Not so well, at least for the three of us. We were all thinking about what could have happened to you to land you in the hospital wing.” Harry said in a low voice, also noticing the gossip duo that was sitting only a few feet away.

“I’ll tell you all about it later. Right now, we need to head up to the Headmaster’s office.”

When Harry, Draco and Ashleigh entered the office, Dumbledore and Snape were already seated and waiting for them. They took their seats in front of the Headmaster’s desk and waited for him to begin the meeting.

“I trust you are well Miss Grey?”

“Yes Headmaster, I feel much better. Thank you.”

“Now, since not everyone here knows why we are here I shall skim over what has happened this morning for Harry. Miss Grey received a letter this morning from Voldemort.”

“WHAT?” Harry interrupted, looking at her as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

“Potter, settle down and let the Headmaster finish.” Snape interjected so as to get the situation back under control.

“Well, I suppose now would be the best time to let you read the letter.”

Dumbledore handed Harry the crumpled letter. Harry accepted it and read it over a few times. When he looked up he had murder in his eyes and stated, “She is NOT going to have that MONSTER’S mark on her arm!”

“I see you’ve come to the same conclusions my boy. What we must discuss today is where Miss Grey will stay after the year is over. We must be discreet in wherever we send her. We cannot let Tom know that we are moving her. I can guarantee that all methods of magical transportation will be watched. It is my suggestion that she stay with Severus if he is amenable to the idea.”

At the Headmaster’s suggestion, Snape nodded his assent.

“Why can’t she stay at Grimauld Place with me? It’s got the Fidelius Charm around it. She’d be safe with me.” Harry said, wanting his cousin close to him.

“I think it would be in Miss Grey’s best interest if she were to stay with Professor Snape. She is after all, due to start her apprenticeship with him at the start of the summer as they had previously planned. She will be safe, I assure you that. She will also be privy to news of what Tom is up to concerning her almost as fast as Professor Snape himself. He can give her the knowledge she needs to protect herself and her mind that you, unfortunately cannot. You would however, be free to visit her at times which Professor Snape deems appropriate.”

“Is there no other option?” Draco asked, not liking the sound of timed visits.

“I’m afraid not. During the last few hours I’ve considered many options but none of them would work as well or make as much sense as what I have proposed. Unless Harry is able to defeat him before the end of school, which I do not think a wise idea, than this is the best option.” Dumbledore replied as he gave Harry a very knowing look.

The three students left the office and headed down to Ashleigh’s rooms. Athena let them know that the rest of their friends were already waiting inside for them. They all took their seats and Ashleigh let Draco tell them what was going on. The others wanted to see the letter but Dumbledore had kept it for the order meeting that he was having the following night. Questions were asked and answered but they could come up with nothing new about the situation. After nearly two hours of discussion, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny left to work on homework.

Ashleigh and Draco had decided that homework sounded like a good diversion so they got to it. Neither actually got any of their homework done but both sat staring at their books contemplating their respective futures with and without the person they sat next to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening, Draco sat writing a letter to his parents. He told them about the past week, leaving out the depressing bits that happened earlier in the day. It wasn’t something they should know about. He did however tell them about the most wonderful three words that Ashleigh had ever spoken to him and that he actually said them back while meaning them with every fiber of his being.
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A Matter of Time