"Bloody Potter and his stupid broom and his stupid Gryffindors. Youngest seeker in over a century. Pah! Saint Potter," Draco snorted, doing a daring roll-over. He released the well-worn Quaffle from his fingers and let it fly towards the centre goalpost.

The enormous white peacock roosting in it let out an indignant squawk as it flew off. Draco sat atop his broom, panting in exhaustion. He fetched the Quaffle and flew back to the grounds of Malfoy Manor and trudged in, holding his broom over his shoulder and his Quaffle under his arm.

A ragged-looking house elf appeared behind Draco and wiped up his muddy footprints as he stomped towards his bedroom. As Draco passed the library, he jumped back in shock as a tall figure cloaked in black stepped into his path.

Draco looked up and backed away when he saw the manic happiness displayed on Lucius Malfoy's face. Oh dear, I'm in for it now, he thought sullenly as Lucius spotted him and his mouth turned down into the patented Malfoy scowl.

"Draco," his father drawled, eyeing his muddy form distastefully, "Has your year at Hogwarts amongst the Mudbloods led you to experiment?"

Draco looked down at his muddy Quidditch robes and stated tonelessly, "I was practicing Quidditch."

Lucius raised an eyebrow in condescension, "Ah… yes. I should hope you bring the Malfoy name pride and excel at something, since you have failed to do well academically."

Draco puffed up indignantly, "I was second only to that mudblood Granger -"

Lucius cut in coldly, "You have told me this multiple times, Draco. It is not a good excuse. We are the cream of society, allowing Mudbloods -"

Lucius sneered in disgust.

"- to best you in anything remotely Wizarding is a shame to your family. I hope that your next term in Hogwarts brings better news."

With that, Lucius swept away towards his study, but not before Draco's sharp eyes caught him subtly slipping a small, black book into his inner robe pockets. Draco stood there for a moment, trying to get his emotions under control. He startled as a House Elf appeared beside his knee.

"Master Draco? Will yous be taking off yous shoes?"

Draco looked down at the pillow-cased House Elf - Dobby if he remembered right - and snarled half-heartedly, "I do as I please, Elf. Now be quiet if you're going to follow me."

Dobby gulped and nodded fearfully and stood aside as a melodic voice called out.

"Draco, darling, whatever are you standing here for?" Narcissa Malfoy called as she elegantly swept down the corridor.

"Mother? Shouldn't you be having tea at the Parkinson's?" Draco asked through concealed worry. Narcissa Malfoy would never let anything interrupt her social activities. Narcissa smiled benignly, though it didn't reach her eyes, and that was when Draco started to really worry.

"Your father called me here on important business. I must be going now Draco, run along," she said, before fondly caressing his head and sweeping off.

Draco frowned but turned around, just as Narcissa called softly, "And Draco dear? Do be quiet when you do so."

Draco took his mother's blessing for what it was: permission to follow her discretely. He looked at Dobby, who was cleaning up the flecks of mud Draco left behind as he moved. Catching the Elf's eyes, he put a finger to his lips and padded as silently as he could towards his father's study.

Draco leaned in at the door, pleased that whatever it was, Lucius had been in such a hurry he didn't cast Silencing charms. He listened to his father's excited whispers.

"... -back Cissa! I found the artifact the Dark Lord gave me for safekeeping. This seemingly useless book - it gave me instructions from the Dark Lord himself! He wrote to me when I wrote in it."

"Lucius… you cannot really think the Dark Lord is back? He was vanquished to nothing by the Potter boy!"

"There was never a body Narcissa. This book of the Dark Lord's, it contains magic so powerful that it must be his way of communicating. He proved it - talked to me of how he recruited my father to his side. It's all him, Narcissa. And he seeks a way back to us. I must follow these instructions, and you will help me. I must get this book to Hogwarts."

Draco went pale as his mother paused. Lucius was either desperate or he wanted to use Draco if he was asking Mother for help.

"Very well, Lucius. But not through Draco. I will not allow you to use him, for fear of retribution to the Malfoy name if he was caught."

Draco almost couldn't contain his sigh of relief. Lucius waved her concern away impatiently.

"Yes, yes, of course. We shall have to make a trip to Diagon Alley to pass off this book to a student. The Dark Lord told me - he told me he would reopen the Chamber of Secrets, like he did when he was in school. He will unleash the monster within, as the Heir of Slytherin, kill all the Mudbloods and bring himself back to the Wizarding world."

"But what about the children? Draco will be in school while this happens - will this monster hurt him?"

"The Dark Lord promised he would only kill the Mudbloods. Don't worry, Cissa. Everything will be as it was before, and the purebloods will rule the Wizarding world. And the Malfoys! Oh - the Malfoys will be the right-hand under the Dark Lord. Just you wait Cissa, just you wait."

Draco had heard enough. Pale and shaking, he ran up to his room, brushing past the frozen Elf by his side. Throwing his broom and Quaffle carelessly onto his bed, he stripped quickly and stepped into the shower, scrubbing off the dirt and grime and the lingering feeling of horror from his eavesdropping session.

Draco leaned against the shower wall, letting the water run over him and soothe him. He closed his eyes.

"My father is crazy," he muttered to himself, "My father is crazy and believes the Dark Lord is back. My father is in possession of a dark artifact that belonged to the Darkest wizard to ever grace the Wizarding world. Okay."

Draco ran his fingers through his wet hair and then clenched his fists over his eyes.

"My father is plotting to bring the Dark Lord back through this Dark artifact by giving it to a student, who may or may not be killed by it. And the stupid book can open a - a what? A Chamber of Secrets. And then a monster controlled by the Heir of Slytherin - the Dark Lord - will be let out and potentially kill all the students, including me. Right."

Draco opened his eyes, shut off the water and dried himself off. He dressed quickly in his robes and sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the wall. He nodded to himself.

"Right. I'm going to do something."