I couldn't stop my body from instinctively stiffening as Draco leaned back, looking around again to make sure that no one was trying to ease drop in the couple of moments he had let his guard down. After he was done his inspection, he turned to look at me again, fear in his eyes.

"What does he have planned for us?" I asked, my voice just above a whisper.

Draco shifted uncomfortably. "Killing Dumbledore."

"And how exactly does he think he's going to manage that?" I asked, raising my eyebrows slightly.

Draco was quiet, looking at me as if the answer was obvious. I stared at him for a couple of minutes, letting the knowledge sink in for a moment before it occurred to me. "Oh my god," I said, my hand going up to my mouth is shock. "Surely he hasn't...."

"Are you really that surprised? Surely you realize how furious he is for my father's failures," Draco spat out, the anger rising in his voice. I shot him a look to keep his voice down.

"Do you know where my mother is?" I asked.

"Securely under his wing," Draco said with a small shake of the head. "How come you never mentioned how powerful she is?"

"It's not just her power," I said, rubbing my face with my hands. "Something happened that has changed her. I'm guessing by your confused expression you don't know what that is."

Draco gave his head a little shake.

"It's not important....how exactly does he expect you to kill Dumbledore?"

"In whatever way I will be able to succeed," Draco said quietly.

"And if you don't succeed?" I asked him.

Draco looked up at me as if the answer was obvious. "I'll be dead."

I let out a sigh. I knew things were going to be complicated, but I had never imagined that Voldemort would actually give such a terrible assignment to someone so young. I looked at Draco and I could feel the amount of hope and anxiety that he had in his eyes. He wanted me to have a solution...he wanted me to have the answers, and the truth was that I didn't.

"We should go to Dumbledore," I said after a couple of minutes of silence.

"I can't do that...they are holding my mother hostage. If they so much as catch a hint that I've said something to someone, even you, they will kill her without a moment of hesitation."

I hated it, but Draco was right. If word got back to the Death Eaters that Dumbledore knew Draco was trying to kill him, not only would his mother be dead but he would be too. The only thing saving his father was his spot in Azkaban, but I figured that it wouldn't be too hard to have him killed in there either. I let out another sigh, biting my lower lip.

"Please Abby...you have to help me. You're the only one that can help me." Draco reached out and grabbed a hold of my arms so that I was forced to look at him.

"Don't worry...I'm going to help you. I just...we just need to figure out what's the right way to go about this..."

Draco kept his grasp on my arms as I looked at the ground, trying to figure out what I was going to do. I had to tell Dumbledore...Dumbledore would know how to go about this. Surely he would know how to find a way to stop this without Draco or his family getting hurt. They were Death Eaters, but that didn't mean that I wanted them to die.

"He's...he's got plans for you," Draco whispered.

I shifted my gaze to look at him. "Plans?"

"For you and your mother. I...I heard things over the summer about...you...and your gifts."

I stared at him. "What did he do to your mother?"

"He bounded himself to her," I said quietly.

Draco stared at me. "You can't bind yourself to Harry Abby."

My eyebrows furrowed slightly. "How do you know what that is?"

"I hear things," Draco said, annoyed that I was choosing to focus on this. "Just...promise me you won't bind yourself to Harry Abby. Please."

"Draco, what do you know?"

Before he could answer, we were cut off by the long, drawn voice of Professor Snape.

"What are you two doing under here?"