AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Fourteenth: I was going to make this chapter even shorter than it currently is,
but all you reviewing people changed my mind! Thanks to:
hot chocolate mess
Tigereyedgirl
LonerByChoice
Karate Chic
bookworm5114
twilightdreamer
LoVeDoNtHaTe
Kezz dog
Cakey Potter
pinapplesaregonnatakeover
Fifteenth: I am very excited.
Sixteenth: So excited, as a matter of fact, that I won't even sigh in jealousy a
s I write the seventeenth note!
Seventeenth: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter.
Eighteenth: I would bet ten galleons that at least half of you readers are hopin
g that Draco will say yes to Hermione's proposal. You will see...
Nineteenth: Did that sound mysterious? It was supposed to.
Draco Malfoy rolled over in his sleep; he was having a strange dream where the G
iant Squid had eaten Harry Potter...it had been nice. Dreams were usually good,
unless they were interrupted, of course. Even interrupted nightmares were bad, b
ecause the person who woke you up is staring at you like an idiot. You might won
der if you have screamed or something, and it is very confusing. Draco's dream,
that night, had, as a matter of fact, been interrupted.
The Giant Squid was just about to decapitate Potter when all of a sudden some ki
nd of magical force woke Draco up. He groaned loudly, wondering what was happeni
ng. Why was he standing up? The other first-years, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott,
and Crabbe and Goyle, of course, were also awake and up. Most looked confused,
but Nott was grinning at them.
"My dad told me about this; it's supposed to be some crazy initiation or somethi
ng," Nott informed them. "He told me that they give you the choice to run around
the castle at midnight- by yourself, or do some other stunt. Most people only d
o the run if the other option is certifiably insane."
"Why?" asked Draco, confused. "What's so hard about running around the castle? J
ust figure out some charm to make yourself invisible?"
"We aren't good enough wizards, yet," said Nott with a grim smile, "and the reas
on it's so difficult is because they make you do it stark naked."
"Oh," Draco managed to get out, hoping he was not letting anyone know of his cur
rent terrified state. "Are you sure he wasn't just-"
He was cut off by the door slamming open, and standing there was a tall boy wear
ing a white and red hockey mask, his wand out. The boy looked like someone out o
f a muggle horror movie, which was why it was fun to dress up. None of the Slyth
erins ever knew why he dressed so oddly for Initiations, and no one really knew
his identity. He was, in fact, a certain potions professor with greasy hair- in
disguise. He himself had had to go through this, and had been trained in the sec
ret art of thinking of Orders for the first-years. It was very fun, but not so m
uch when a Task directly involved Severus Snape.
Not even Nott knew of this secret, and nobody ever would, unless, of course, the
y themselves were trained in the secret art. If Draco had known, he would have w
ondered- or demanded- why his own godfather had not told him. This was why it wa
s kept a secret.
The tall boy said in a deep voice, completely unrecognizable, "Follow me." Draco
could have sworn that he heard the fellow breathing, but he dismissed the thoug
ht. People could not breathe that loud, unless they used magic, or maybe a Magic
-Darth-Vader-Voice-Changer from Zonko's. Probably the magic. The boy strode from
the room, five little Slytherin boys following him.
They paraded through the common room, and the tall boy tapped his wand on the wa
ll. A door appeared there with a quiet pop and opened with a creak. The tall boy
walked inside, the boys still following him like ducklings. When they had all e
ntered, the door popped behind them. Draco turned around to see that it was gone
. He wondered how they were supposed to get out.
"You may all sit," instructed the tall boy, and when they were all doing so he b
egan his annual speech. "You may all call me Darth Vader Jason. I was named afte
r a powerful dark wizard long ago, and I expect you to treat me as much. Any que
stions?" Goyle raised a hesitant hand. "No? Let's go on, then."
Darth Vader Jason walked around them several times, surveying them like fresh me
at. Draco rolled his eyes a little, wondering why DVJ- Darth Vader Jason- had to
be so dramatic and mysterious. Who was he, anyway? And why hadn't his father to
ld him about this? What was this? Some kind of initiation?
DVJ started," I'll try to get through this quick so that you can get back to sle
ep or whatever you do at night." DVJ muttered something about sacrificing small
animals to Salazar Slytherin under his breath. "First of all, tell anyone other
than the people in this room about this, and you will die from the Cruciatus cur
se." A few widened eyes popped here and there throughout the room. "This is your
Initiation. You will each be given one thing to do, or Order, and if you do not
...same punishment as before. Any questions?"
Not a single boy dared to raise their hand in fear of angering DVJ. Not even Goy
le, who was dying to know if anyone he knew had failed an Order. Draco was wonde
ring what his Order would be, hoping that it would be a challenging one. He want
ed to prove to everyone else that he was as cunning and sly as any Slytherin, ev
en a seventh-year.
Darth Vader Jason then went on to explain that each of them would be given one O
rder, and if they didn't do it...Thedore Nott had already explained that bit. Ea
ch boy would have exactly one week to complete his Order before he died an extre
mely painful death...or an extremely embarrassing one. DJV started to announce t
he Orders, in alphabetical order, of course.
"Vincent Crabbe...go an entire day without eating, that'll be interesting...Greg
ory Goyle, same as Crabbe...Draco Malfoy," DVJ looked up, and through the mask y
ou could see a curious, mischievous glint in his dark eyes that were strangely f
amiliar..."You're to jump in the Black Lake and-" DVJ stopped, because an owl ha
d just dropped a piece of parchment into his hands. He unrolled the scroll, whic
h just happened to be signed a Miss Katie Bell. "Change of plans," he said, "Dra
co Malfoy, you are to ask the Granger- I mean, Hermione Granger to...marry you?
Yes, marry you."
Draco then let out a string of curses only a dark wizard such as DVJ could under
stand. He added, "Just wait until-"
"Yes, yes, your father hears of this," interjected Darth Vader Jason, "But if yo
ur father hears of this, you will die, as he went to Durmstrang for his first fo
ur years, or so I am told, going through no Initiation. Now, Theodore Nott, you
are to-"
"I'm not going to-" Draco started, getting up from the floor. He ended up trippi
ng over someone's foot, falling and lightly bruising his toe. "I've been cursed!
" he howled, "I'm going to die a painful death and then I'm never-"
"Shut your trap, will you? You tripped, it's not the end of the world. Why don't
you just get an Anti-Clumsy potion or something, you Klutz," smirked Zabini, ro
lling his eyes at the boy who was now glaring ferociously at him. Draco spun aro
und, then said, "Where's the door? I want to leave!"
DVJ irritably waved his wand, and the secret door popped back into the wall. Dra
co slammed the door behind him, or rather, tried to, anyway. The door popped awa
y just before it hit the frame.
"These Orders get more and more interesting each year," muttered Darth Vader Jas
on sarcastically. Or shall I say, Severus Snape?
Twentieth: Well, there you go. Hermione was supposed to pop the question this ch
apter, but now it's a bit messed up, courtesy of a Miss Katie Bell and, of cours
e, myself. What will happen next? Will anyone review? Shall I continue?...