Treason - 5

Shannon flushed, pleased, although she shook her head. "No. I'm loyal to the core – just like all Hufflepuffs."

"You were at Hogwarts, then?" Harry asked, curious. She wasn't at all familiar to him.

Shannon nodded. "I was in Fred and George's year, but I remember you. I'm sorry to say I wore one of those awful badges during the Triwizard Tournament until Cedric asked me not to do it," she said, staring directly at Harry. "Sorry about that."

Harry grinned, remembering how much those badges had bothered him at the time. "No problem. Everyone wore them."

"That's because they were amusing, and everyone enjoyed being able to admit that Potter stinks," Draco Malfoy said, entering the kitchen with a swagger.

Harry noticed that Mrs. Weasley didn't jump up to make him a plate as she had done for the others. She sat at the table, scowling, with her arms folded across her chest. His heart swelled with affection for Mrs. Weasley just then.

"Shut it, Malfoy," Ron said, growling.

"You're in the Order?" Shannon asked, stunned. "Weren't you the one who made those badges?"

"I did," Draco said proudly as he began putting food on his plate.

"He's not in the Order," George said. "He's just hiding here until it's over."

"I'm not hiding," Draco said, his face flushing.

"No? What do you call it, then?" Fred asked.

"I call it protecting my best interests," Draco replied, sneering. "I have a bright future ahead of me. I do, that is, if Potter can ever get his act together and end this thing."

A chorus of angry voices met this response, all of which Draco ignored as he began eating his meal.

"Enough!" Hagrid boomed, startling everyone into silence.

"My mother and the Parkinsons are reading the evening edition of the Daily Prophet," Draco drawled, as if there hadn't been any interruption. "We're concerned about what this means. If the Order is arrested and chucked in Azkaban, what's to happen to us? You know that there are ways to find this place."

"The Malfoys and the Parkinsons – you might remember Iris – are staying here as well," George said, clarifying for Shannon.

"I do remember Iris. She was all right, I suppose…for a Slytherin," Shannon said.

"Iris is all right. Nothing like this one," Fred said, glaring at Draco.

"We're working on a contingency plan, Mr. Malfoy," Professor McGonagall said, glaring at the others to keep their silence. "No one is going to Azkaban."

"That doesn't appear to be Minister Umbridge's plan," Draco said lazily.

"Be that as it may," Professor McGonagall replied, peering over the top of her glasses. "We shall see to it that you and your family are protected."

"What do you think Voldemort will do next?" Moody asked, his magical eye zeroing in on Draco, who flinched at the use of the name.

"He'll use the Minister's desire for a truce to his advantage," Draco replied. "He'll plant the seed in her head about dismantling the Fidelius Charm and make her think it was her idea. Then he'll have people testing the wards to see if they're weakening."

"How will he do that?" Harry asked. "How will he test the wards if no one can reveal where headquarters is located."

Malfoy rolled his eyes and spoke slowly, as if to a very small child. "He'll find someone whom he believes knows the location and torture them until they can tell. When they start to give answers, he'll know the wards are failing."

Harry swallowed, his anxiety for Remus increasing. If either Voldemort or the Ministry caught him now, neither would hesitate to use him.