Extended Story Summary: Dumbledore is dead. Voldemort is amassing power. The Ministry is falling, Hogwarts is a fortress, and the Wizarding World is quaking in fear. In these dark times, the Order is desperate to do something...anything to help cut off Voldemort's power. So Alastor Moody makes a gamble, a gamble for the loyalty of a boy whose ancient family holds power the Dark Lord has enjoyed for ages. But is there really any hope for them in Draco Malfoy? Hogwarts' new Head Boy is branded with the Mark...but he hides it. He associates with the Death Eaters...but he shows disgust for them. He's heard people cry out in pain...but he himself has cried out time and time again. As Voldemort tries to threaten and torture him into obedience, the gears of change are beginning to turn in his mind...maybe, just maybe. It's up to the Head Girl to find out. Yet somehow, she happens to find out a lot more in the process.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. Sad, but true.

Outside Number 12 Grimmauld Place, a violent storm was raging; rain poured on the rooftops and thunder pierced the sky, as strong winds ripped through the few trees that remained in the ancient square. But the noise outside was nothing compared to that coming from the kitchen of the old Black family home. The argument had been going on for an hour now, and there were no signs that it would abate any time soon.

"RONALD WEASELY YOU ARE BEING ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS" screamed Molly Weasely, as she slammed a dinner plate on the table.

Ron groaned, "Mum, how do you even expect us to - "

But his mother didn't let him finish, "Not go to school…PREPOSTEROUS. There's enough chaos in the country without your disrupting your education. And you, Hermione, why you are the last one I'd expect to even…I mean I am positively APPALLED. Where will you be without your NEWT's? How would you survive without a final year of sch-"

"Molly, calm yourself please," interrupted Remus Lupin, for what seemed like the millionth time that night. He turned to Harry again, "And you won't tell us? You won't tell us why you don't want to come back."

Harry drew a breath. He wanted to. He really did. He wanted to tell the Order about Voldemort's past and about the horcruxes and about everything that had happened in Dumbledore's office over the past year. It would make everything so much easier. But he knew he couldn't. Shaking his head, he looked back at Lupin, "No."

"But logically," continued Hermione, "Is it even safe for us to go back? I mean, with Dumbledore gone, the Death Eaters will all but take over the school. How could you possibly protect us? Protect HARRY?"

"Oh, you'll be fine girl. Don't you worry."

Every head in the room turned to the voice that had just spoken. Alastor Moody stood in the door of the kitchen, clutching a wet cloak and a packet of parchment. He wore a sick, ironic smile on his face.

"What's going on here anyway?" he continued as he entered the kitchen.

Molly huffed, "These three INSIST that they can't go back to Hogwarts this year. And not only that, but they refuse to give any reason WHY." She shook her head and headed for the stove, muttering as she went about irresponsibility and teenagers and what the world had come to.

"Best argument they have is that it isn't safe," continued Lupin. "And granted, they have somewhat of a point there."

The odd smile on Moody's face widened, "Well, SAFETY at Hogwarts can be their last concern."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at eachother suspiciously. "Why?" ventured Harry.

Moody sat down, turning the parchment in his hand, "Because, believe it or not, you're not going to be Voldemort's top worry for quite a while Potter. Well, at least until February 17th. And by then the year is practically over."

At the mentioning of that particular date, Lupin and Molly quickly turned to look at Moody. "You're can't be sure about that Alastor," began Lupin, "You don't even know if that game exists, much less if we can play it."

Moody widened his smile even further, "Oh trust me. We're going to play that game."

Molly laid a plate on the table and then sat down next to Moody, "Alastor, has something happened?

"Wait," interrupted Hermione, "What are you all talking about?"

"What's supposed to happen on February 17th anyway?" asked Ron.

Moody looked closely at the three Gryffindors, "Imagine that you are V…him. Imagine that, besides your obvious power and strength and skill, that besides all that you are helped by one of the strongest magical forces that has ever existed. Imagine you have protection in million of homes. Imagine you have money and resources beyond belief. Imagine that you can obtain any amount of international assistance, if only you commanded it. Imagine that even though you do not directly control this force, you very strongly control the person who does. Now, what then would be one of your greatest fears?"

It took Hermione no time to respond, "Losing all this, of course."

"PRECISELY Ms. Granger. PRECISELY." Moody slapped his hand on the table.

Molly sighed, "We've established all that Alastor. But I still don't see how you can be certain that it will actually make a difference."

Ignoring him, Moody continued to look at the three kids. "Can any of you guess what we're talking about?"

Ron shrugged, "Some…I dunno…magic orb or book or whatnot."

"We, my friends, are talking about the Malfoy Empire."

"WHAT?" Harry exclaimed, while Hermione gave Moody a confused look. Ron rolled his eyes, "Yeah right. That thing's an old bedtime myth. Ancient glory of an idiotic family that lost everything years ago and just can't let go."

Lupin nodded, "True…but not completely. The Malfoy Empire's always existed. It just needs some to control it. And for years the Malfoys have ignored it. Lucius scarcely knows a thing about it. He just commands things here and there when it's convenient for You-Know-Who."

"So you," began Hermione, "are going to try to…take it away from him?"

Harry leaned back, "Good chance we have there. I mean, I'm sure Lucius Malfoy would LOVE to make a deal with us."

"No need to be sarcastic," retorted Moody, whose smile now looked downright evil, "Of course Lucius is a lost case. Weak, idiotic, pitiful excuse for a - "

Lupin interrupted the coming rant against Lucius Malfoy, "The…umm…game, if you want to call it….the game for Lucius Malfoy's loyalty is long over. The game for DRACO Malfoy's soul might still be playable."

Ron laughed loudly as Harry exclaimed, "You think MALFOY is going to turn coat? MALFOY? The guy who almost killed Dumbledore?"

"That's what I said," muttered Molly.

Lupin ignored her, "The fact that he did not, in fact, kill Dumbledore is significant. The fact that he apparently COULD not is even more so. There's a chance, however slight, that - "

"Wait," interrupted Hermione, who looked as unbelieving as Ron, "What does this have to do with us going back to Hogwarts or with February 17th or with anything we've been discussing?"

Moody slapped the papers in front of him, "Absolutely everything. February 17th, Mrs. Granger, is Draco Malfoy's birthday. His 18th birthday to be exact."

"At the age of 18," continued Lupin, "It is ancient tradition for the first Malfoy son to…take up, so to say, his place as Head of the Malfoy Empire."

"At 18?" said Hermione, unbelieving, as Ron and Harry looked at Moody with incredulous faces.

"Well, for the past thousand years of so, the heir has usually signed an agreement to allow his father to continue managing affairs until some prescribed time." When these words caused Ron and Harry to snort and roll their eyes, respectively, Lupin continued quickly, "HOWEVER, there is a possibility that Draco could choose to take up his inheritance in February and potentially take away from You-Know-Who the many privileges he has so far enjoyed."

Harry leaned forward, "And do you ACTUALLY think, do you REALLY believe, that he will? Do you seriously have a hope that Draco Malfoy is suddenly going to become the…I don't know…the great angel of good and righteousness?"

"Of course not," began Lupin, "But his behavior in the tow - "

Moody interrupted, "But he's obviously proven that he's swayable. Which is a good enough incentive for us to try. And, with regards to your schooling, if Voldemort can be kept busy with worrying about whether or not he's got young Master Malfoy's allegiance, you can rest assured that you will be quite safe at Hogwarts…at least until the 17th. As I said, he'll have bigger things to worry about until then."

"BUT ALASTOR," screamed Molly. She had been looking angrily at Moody for quite sometime. The weird smile on his face and the secret he seemed to be hiding were troubling her nerves. "We don't have any real proof that the Malfoy boy would even consider betraying You-Know-Who. He scarcely has an incentive. He's terrified of them. He hates everything we stand for. So unless - "

"AH!" interrupted Moody, raising his hand and looking around as if he were giving a school lesson, "Therein lies the key. You said he hates. And from what I've heard he does. BUT…what if, just what if, he begins to hate them? More than he hates us?"

Ron slapped his forehead in frustration. Moody was talking nonsense. "Malfoy LOVES the Death Eaters. He loves purebloods, he loves snakes and evil and dementors and torturing people and…he BELONGS with them."

"Does he?" asked Moody; he was almost laughing.

Lupin looked at him seriously, "Alastor. Has something happened?"

With a triumphant look on his face, Moody threw the papers in his hands toward the middle of the table, "Tomorrow's copy of the Daily Prophet."

They all bent their heads over the newspaper. On the front cover, big letters in bold print announced the main story: FAMOUS LEGRAND FAMILY FOUND MURDERED IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE.

Hermione looked up, "I don't get it." She turned to Ron and Harry. Both seemed just as perplexed as she was.

Lupin and Molly, however, had apparently understood something much more from the words. "The Legrands…" began Lupin contemplatively, "Aren't they an ancient pureblood family?"

Moody nodded, seemingly pleased, "Indeed."

"Alright…" continued Lupin, "And weren't they quite close to the Malfoy family?"

"Yes…"

"HONESTLY Alastor," shouted Mrs. Weasley, "I can't see how you possibly take this much joy from the murder of an entire family. Even if it does help us, you don't need to smile like that."

"I take joy, Molly, from knowing we have a chance. THAT is worth smiling about." He stood up and began to pace, "Now, the Legrands were close to the Malfoys. How close?"

"Wait a second," said Ron. "I've heard that name before." He smiled, "It was at one of those odd family gatherings or whatnot. Malfoy's 5th birthday I think. There was this girl there. Five years old and already gorgeous."

"Ronald!" exclaimed Hermione, "At five years old you were already thinking about gir - "

Moody interrupted and slammed his hand on the table, "EXACTLY Ronald. That girl, who, by the way, grew up to be as gorgeous a woman as she was a child, was killed last night."

Molly drew in her breath, "Moody, you're not saying that…" She couldn't continue. A shocked expression had come over her face.

"That girl," continued Moody, "was named Iovanna Legrand. That girl was beautiful and talented and all but perfect. That girl…" He paused for a moment, in an apparent effort to increase the drama of the moment, "was Draco Malfoy's fiancé."

"WHAT?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione had all screamed at the same time.

"That's impossible," said Harry.

"Not so," retorted Moody. "The first Malfoy son is always engaged at birth. Ensures the line will be passed down."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Malfoy's the biggest flirt in the whole of Slytherin. He's had more girlfriends than you can count on fingers and toes combined."

Lupin had paled. He looked at Moody and, with an interested voice, said, "But that's not important, is it? The Legrand girl is."

Moody sat down again, the triumphant look on his face again, "That girl, I am certain, was the only person – mark me, the ONLY person – that Draco Malfoy ever really loved."

"And now she's dead," whispered Molly.

"No," continued Moody, "Now she is murdered. And if you read that article there, you'll see that Dark Mark was found of their mansion. She was murdered by THEM."

An ironic laugh escaped Lupin's mouth, "So then that answers your question doesn't it Alastor. Could he hate them more than he hates us? He just might."

"As I said, we have a game." Moody got up and, clapping his hands together, turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, "So you see, here's how things are playing out. An attempt by You-Know-Who to scare a boy might just make him angry. Probably has, in fact. And now both sides are going to be playing for that boy's loyalty, so that they could win a share of his inheritance. Now, since Malfoy's no idiot – and don't give me that look Ronald Weasely, his being a git doesn't make him a moron – he'll wait as long as possible to publicly declare any choice. And so, until February 17th, the Death Eaters are going to have things other than you three on their minds. To make a long story short: You're going back to Hogwarts."

Please review! I definitely need feedback. Oh, and should chapters be longer?

P.S. This story is going to be D/Hr, and it will play on the "traditional" Head Boy/Head Girl theme, but that won't be the only or the major focus, especially in later chapters.

P.S.S. Yes, I know February 17th isn't the date that JK Rowling gave for Malfoy's birthday. But I needed it to be during the school year...I hope you don't mind!