分卷阅读61（2 / 2）

“Well, Malfoy’s parents were divorced when his father died. Normally, like if my father died, the house would go to my mom and then when she died to the oldest child, or whoever was named heir. But Malfoy’s not sixteen yet, is he? So he can inherit the property but he can’t live on it until he’s legal.”

“He could be facing a lot of legal problems then.” Hermione said thoughtfully. “Other adults could make a case that he is unfit to inherit it because of his age.”

“True. And I bet Lucius Malfoy left everything to his son.” Ron continued. “The Malfoys would stick to tradition like that. Malfoy would inherit everything, so if he was deemed unfit to inherit, then someone else would get everything.”

“And any other relatives are Death Eaters,” Harry continued the thought. “That could be a problem.”

“Well, it won’t be if Malfoy turns sixteen soon. Does anyone know his birthday?” Hermione asked. Both Harry and Ron shook their heads.

Harry walked into his and Draco’s rooms tentatively, unsure of what to expect. Draco was sitting on the couch, looking into the fire, a thoughtful expression on his face. Lucius Malfoy’s portrait was still on the wall. The figure inside it looked up slightly when Harry entered the room and nodded curtly to Harry before returning his attention to the window.

Draco didn’t look up until Harry sat down next to him on the couch. Harry thought Draco looked much better now than he had that morning. His eyes had returned to their original coloring, and the sullen expression that had set in, though still there, was not as prominent as it had been before. Harry wondered if Draco had talked to the portrait of his father after he’d left. He knew that he would have, had there been a portrait of Sirius Black to talk to after his godfather’s death.

“Voldemort killed my father.” Draco said softly, his eyes boring into Harry’s own with a question. “You’re going to have to fight him. Harry…are you going to kill him? When you fight him?”

“Yes,” Harry replied evenly and with a conviction he’d not felt before. “I am going to kill him.”

“Promise me…that when you do, even though you have your own reasons to kill him… promise me that part of it will be for my father.”

Harry looked for a moment at the boy sitting next to him, saw how hurt inside Draco was, saw the same feelings that he knew from his own experiences…saw the one thing that he might be able to do to help.

“I promise.”

Chapter 32: Wildfire News

Harry had never seen the student body of Hogwarts as attentive as when Dumbledore announced the four day suspension of twenty-three students from the school. No names were mentioned, though as Harry looked around the Great Hall it was rather obvious where the gaps in the houses were. As his eyes had done countless times during the day, he sought out Draco who was sitting calmly at the breakfast table. He had briefly appeared in the Great Hall for meals on Sunday, but had insisted on going to classes on Monday.

“Harry, you look more upset than Malfoy,” Ron muttered. “Relax. If Malfoy was going to break down, he would have done it already.”

“I think he’s doing the right thing.” Hermione added. Harry looked at her in surprise. “The faster you get back into your life after an incident like that, the better it is in the long run. People find the routine of their lives helps them move past it.”

“But that routine has been broken already, hasn’t it?” Ron asked around a mouthful of eggs.

“Yeah, because normally Draco gets a letter right about now,” Harry muttered.