Chapter 10

After that, Tom decided to keep a magical leash on Esmeralda that would prevent her from going into certain rooms when a certain ward was activated. She found it incredibly annoying, and took every opportunity to complain. Despite that however, she found herself avoiding trouble, if only to allow herself to heal properly.

She still felt stiff, and found herself tiring easily. Moreover, her fur was still regrowing, so she tended to stay in positions where no-one could see the bald patches on her side. Tom found it incredibly amusing, and poked fun at her whenever he caught her curling up against a wall, or twisting in someone's lap. Despite that however, she still made sure to participate in his meetings.

Tom had an almost split personality, one for his meetings, and the other for the rest of the time. Esmeralda had aptly named then Tom and Grumpymort. Unfortunately, her owner didn't find it as funny.

However, no matter which persona he was wearing, he was always certain to ensure her safety. She found herself bound to his lap during the majority of the meetings, unless of course she decided to go and play with Lucius or Bella. And they seemed to be even more careful than Tom, if it were possible.

Which was why she found herself glaring sulkily at the floor as Bella petted her. It had taken a lot of persuasion, and bribery, and a lot of hand washing to get Esmeralda to allow Bella to pet her. Once she had, she found the woman was rather caring, and seemed to enjoy running her hands through Esmeralda's fur. And Esmeralda didn't dislike it. And besides, the mad harpy seemed to find some peace in it, so it was a win-win situation.

However, what was happening in front of her wasn't enjoyable, nor was it peaceful. The death eaters of the lower ranks had found an auror sniffing around the riddle manor after his shift, and had dragged him before their Lord. After several moments assessing the glaring man, Tom had turned him over to his minions to play with. Esmeralda shuddered with disgust. She had promptly found herself in Bella's lap, and she was pointedly ignoring Tom, keeping her new occlumency shields carefully in place.

"Oh, pretty kitty," cooed Bella as she stroked Esmeralda gently, "Why are you so mad at My Lord? You shouldn't ignore your master,"

Esmeralda was getting seriously annoyed at the woman, no matter how good she was at petting her. Finally, she lost her temper, and she leapt form Bella's lap before the woman could stop her.

Yowling slightly to make herself heard, she slipped through the sea of legs. It soon parted for her, and she found herself gazing imperiously down at the shaking man.

He slowly looked up, and a look of shock crossed his face as he discovered the black cat watching him. Walking forwards slowly, she sniffed him.

'Tom?' asked Esmeralda, lowering her shields.

'What?' asked the man, curious about what she was doing.

'Introduce me please', she said, 'and make me seem important. I want to see what he'll do,'

"How very lucky of you, Mr Aimsley," purred Tom silkily in that dangerous voice of his, "Allow me to introduce my familiar, Mera. She doesn't normally go near our prisoners. Perhaps there is something in you she sees,"

Esmeralda watched as Amisley's face twisted with confusion, then shock, before twisting into a dark expression.

"Filthy beast," he snarled, finding the energy to take a swing at Mera. She was agile, and dodged out of the way. Unfortunately, her reflex action left her open for tom, and he took control of her small body with ease. She could feel his towering anger, and she shrank into her mind.

With a quick spell to lengthen and sharpen her claws, he slashed across the man's throat, and held her there as the man drowned in his blood, his last sight her dispassionate green eyes. Ever so slowly, he eased out of her mind, and Esmeralda turned and trotted up to him, jumping and curling up in her master's lap.

Once there, she relaxed tense muscles, and she started to shake. Tom instantly began to stroke her, and she found solace in his hands.

"It seems that even my cat has more reflex than you lot do," growled tom, "Get out, before you join the auror,"

The other death eaters fled, leaving Tom alone in the room with his three lieutenants and Mera.

"Dispose of the body," said Tom, "I shall be in my quarters. Disturb me only if it is important,"

He swept away, Mera held securely in his arms.

Once they were in his room, he let the glamour drop, and he gently started to stroke Mera again, whispering soothing words. She had gone into shock. Slowly, she began to come to her senses, and he got the feeling that if she were human, she would be crying.

'I killed him' it was a quiet whisper, so empty, and lonely.

'No you didn't sweet,' he said instantly, wanting to reassure her, 'I did. It was me in control. You didn't do anything'

'But if I hadn't gone up to him-' she started

'It wasn't your fault! He said, 'he had no reason to hit you. You were simply being curious. He had no justification to hit you'

Mera looked up at him sadly, and he gently pulled her close, crooning soft words to her. He supposed it would be natural for her to have this sort of a reaction. She was just the sort of person Dumbledore would have recruited; gentle, mischievous, intelligent, and unable to kill a fly. Normally, he would never have cared what the other person felt, but I was different. She had a link to his mind, and held a part of him. She was almost like Nagini, just less disposed to worship him. Keeping her safe was his top priority.

'Why did you have to kill him?' she asked finally, her voice still tiny.

'He tried to hurt you sweet,' Tom said firmly. He had to make her understand how important she was, 'I wasn't going to let that pass'

'But he didn't get me' whispered I.

'That's not the point,' said Tom, wanting her to understand 'you are mine I, and I will protect you, no matter what happens. You are my first priority over everything, and I will ensure you stay safe no matter what. Even if I have to go to the ends of the earth to ensure that. And if any one tries to hurt you, I will end them because you are more important than they are,'

'The world doesn't work that way Tomcat' said Esmeralda sadly, 'if we could all do that, then we wouldn't be able to hurt anyone, cause they would be more important in someone else's eyes,'

'But you are important to me, and I am powerful enough to make that mean something,' said Tom, 'that is why I will kill anyone who tries to hurt you,'

'Alright Tomcat,' whispered Mera, 'I'm too tired to argue with you. Just don't make me a part of it next time,'

'Alright sweet,' he said indulgently, 'but I have one question,'

'What?'

'Why Tomcat?'

Albus Dumbledore decided that after all this was over he would quit his job. Perhaps it was time to finally accept the position of Minister for Magic. After all, he was getting along in years. And it would get him away from these hare brained morons they called children.

He was quite certain he had never been that thick.

Currently, one Neville Longbottom was sitting in front of him, and had him fixed with a disbelieving stare.

"Look sir, I'm not sure if this is right," said the boy.

"My dear boy," said Albus, "I have thought out every possibility, and there is no doubt,"

"But how can I be the chosen one?" asked Neville, "That's Ezzy,"

"I have explained this before, my boy," said Albus, hard pressed to keep his twinkle going.

"Perhaps you should explain it again," said Neville, "Cause I really don't understand,"

"There were two possibilities for the chosen child," said Dumbledore, "yourself and Esmeralda. I believe that you are both the chosen one, simply waiting for the time when you would have your confrontation with the Dark Lord,"

"But I've never confronted him!" protested Neville. Merlin, weren't Gryffindor's supposed to want life-threatening. He would have to have a word with the hat. The damn thing was obviously trying to undo his carefully laid plans.

"Ezzy has confronted him every time," continued Neville, "And I was only there by a fluke last year,"

"My boy, as I have said before," said Albus trying to be patient, "Her time is up as the chosen one, and now it is your turn. She was simply stalling the dark lord so that when you were ready, you would be able to defeat him,"

"But I'm not that powerful," said Neville, "Not as powerful as Ezzy,"

The boy should have been a Hufflepuff; thick, stubborn, no personality, and so loyal it made a dog look fickle.

"You're powers are dormant," said Dumbledore, forcing a smile, "That is why you need to start training to unlock them,"

"But you still haven't explained what's happened to Ezzy," growled Neville.

"As I have told you, her overuse of magic when dealing with Voldemort has caught up with her, and she is currently in special care,"

"But her core was perfectly stable before she left," said Neville, "I think it's more likely she left,"

"Why would she leave dear boy?" asked Albus.

"I don't know, but I'm sure she had a good reason," said Neville.

At least he wasn't pointing fingers. Especially in his direction.

"She hasn't run away, she is simply under intensive care for severe magic depletion," said Albus.

That had been a stroke of genius. If the girl ever resurfaced, a simple spell would deal with her magic, and whatever she said could be written off as denial, to the point of delusion. And if she never returned, then it could be said that her body had failed despite the healer's best efforts, and she had passed on. A small private ceremony with a golem, and things would be settled up. Absolutely nothing to worry about.

"Why can't we go and see her?" asked Neville.

"Because her core becomes seriously unstable around magicks she is familiar with," explained Albus, "We are unsure of why,"

"How do you know?" asked Neville.

"I went myself with young Ronald Weasley," said the aged man, "She had a serious attack. We cannot risk her being unstable too much,"

"Fine," said Neville, sounding resigned, "I've gotta go anyway. I've got charms,"

"OF course my boy," said Dumbledore, his smile genuine in the light that the boy was finally leaving, "Do give Filius my apologies for keeping you,"

"Sure," said Neville.

Albus sighed. It seemed the boy also needed a lesson in manners. It wouldn't do for the pawn to be disrespectful to the chess master, even if he didn't know it.

Neville left the office hurriedly, his features twisting into a grimace once he was out of the damn place. If the old bastard thought he was being clever, and subtle, he had another thing coming. His machinations were obvious to Neville, who'd grown up in the murky world of pureblood politics.

It was also obvious to the boy that the old man wasn't as caring as he seemed. Neville didn't have charms. In fact, he didn't have any class. It was a Saturday after all.

Draco lounged in one of the chairs provided by the room, ignoring the babblings of the other occupants with practised ease. He was however, not oblivious to the general gist of the conversations around him.

Finally the door opened, and admitted an angry looking Neville who was ranting under his breath. Having experience with this sort of thing, Draco did the only thing that he knew would help. He cast a strong shield around the other occupants of the room, who obviously didn't know what a seriously pissed Neville could do, and handed the irate brunette a cup of hot chocolate.

"What happened this time?" he asked, once Neville had stopped muttering.

"Same as usual," grumbled Neville, "I kept things going round in circles. I don't think he suspects a student would be capable of political thinking,"

"That's because he has a superiority complex," sniffed Draco.

"Oi! Malfoy!" yelled Ginny, "Take down the shield,"

Draco flicked his wrist, and the glowing blue bubble around the other students faded.

"What's with the shield?" asked Neville.

"After that party at the Nott's," said Draco, "I'm taking every precaution I can,"

"It was an accident," said Neville, "how was I supposed to know the chandelier would fall,"

"The fact that it was an accident doesn't comfort me," said Draco, "How do I know what will happen when you're in control of yourself,"

"Well I won't be dropping chandeliers," said Neville.

"I don't get it," said Colin, looking confused.

"Trust me Creevey," said Blaise, "You don't want to understand,"

"I'm not that bad," complained Neville.

"That's what we thought," said Blaise.

"Moving back to the topic at hand," complained Padma, "Did we find out anything new?"

"Well, apparently Ron's been to see her," said Neville.

"So we go and ask Weasley how she's doing," said Theodore.

"Once we separate him from lavender," sniffed Parvati.

"That shouldn't be too hard," said Dean,

"Yeah, just point out the latest fashion magazine and she'll be off him faster than you can say shoes," snickered Seamus

"Anything else?" asked Ginny.

"He said that they needed to begin my training to unlock my powers," said Neville.

"So you think he might try core enlargers?" asked Daphne.

"Probably," said Neville grimly.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Padma,

"We need to find Ezzy," said Seamus.

"And how do you propose to do that?" asked Blaise.

"We could start by setting up places for her to go," said Ginny.

"What?" asked Padma and Parvati in unison.

"We could inform people of Esmeralda's disappearance," said Blaise, catching onto the younger girl's train of thought, "And make sure they would be able to keep her safe. Inform them of the dangers we think she might face,"

"I feel like I'm in one of those spy movies," chuckled Colin, ignoring the strange looks he was receiving from the purebloods in the room.

"Don't be ridiculous Creevey," sneered Draco, "Try to be realistic,"

"You know what he's talking about?" asked Ginny looking faint.

"Beg pardon?" asked Draco.

"How do you know about spy movies?" asked Seamus, who was more direct.

"None of your business," said Draco, suddenly realising what he had said.

"How do you know?" asked Theo.

"None of your business," said Draco, flushing slightly.

"Do you think he has a girlfriend?" whispered Daphne to Blaise.

"Won't pansy be disappointed," chuckled Blaise.

"I can hear you," snapped Draco.

"I know," said Blaise.

"I do not have a girlfriend," said Draco.

"A boyfriend then?" asked Ginny, unable to resist.

"NO!" yelled Draco.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," sniggered Blaise.

"I'm male," said Draco.

"What?" shrieked Ginny, "What else haven't you been telling us?"

"Shut up," growled Draco

"Can we move back to the point please?" asked Daphne.

"Which one?" asked Dean.

"The one about Esmeralda," said Daphne

"I thought we had finished with that," said Ginny,

"Who are we going to talk to?" asked Seamus.

"Um, well, we can contact my brothers," said Ginny.

"What?" asked Parvati, "I thought they were on Dumbledore's side,"

"Only Percy and Ron," said Ginny, "The rest of them are sorta neutral, and they all adore Ezzy,"

"It's the eyes," said Neville, nodding sagely.

"Shut up, you git," said Dean.

"Who else?" asked Padma.

"Well, Gran would love to have her over," said Neville, "She's been complaining about Dumbledore for years,"

"Mum's always wanted a daughter," said Blaise, "And I think she and Esmeralda would get on great,"

"My parents wouldn't mind," said Dean, "I've been keeping them up-to-date on things, and they share my opinion of Dumbledore,"

"Right," said Ginny, "Who else?"

"Our parents live in India most of the time," said Parvati.

"But we can ask them to keep an eye out," said Padma.

"Me dad's got a farm in Ireland," said Seamus, "And despite his falling out with mam, he still keeps up with whatever's happening in our world. He'd probably love to have her over,"

"What about her relatives?" asked Theo, who was still new to PEPA (Protect Esmeralda Potter Association)

"Her relatives aren't that fond of magic," said Colin, trying to be tactful.

"Aren't that fond?" scoffed Neville, "They hate magic! And they hate her,"

"I've often heard her joke that they were going to be depressed that she survived the year," said Seamus

"She always spends ages in the hospital wing at the beginning of the year," added Dean

"And she eats like crazy whenever she comes from that place," said Ginny, "And she's awfully self-conscious,"

"A lot of girls are," said Daphne.

"Not like Ezzy," Ginny shook her head.

"So her relatives are out of the question," said Theo.

"Yeah," said Ginny.

"So who else can we ask?" asked Draco.

"We can ask around school," said Colin.

"Okay," said Ginny, "Are there any other ideas?"

There was a general head shake, so they decided to call it a night. Chattering quietly amongst one another, they left the room in small house groups, heading to their dorms.

They never knew that there was someone pouring over a large piece of parchment in an abandoned classroom, carefully taking note of everyone as they left.