Monsters

fifty one

"You guys please be safe this year." Andromeda says as the five of us walk down the stairs the next morning. None of us excited or happy, but we're there.

"We'll try our best." Draco lightly teases to lighten the mood.

"Write to me, Draco." Andromeda demands.

"Okay." He says as he takes my hand.

"Good luck." Andromeda says one last time before leaving the five of us alone.

She offered to come with us to the train station but we couldn't do that to her. She's known as a good person and being seen with us would probably ruin that. Her husband fights for the order, and we're death eaters. It wouldn't be fair..

"You guys ready?" Theo asks. We're not and we probably never will be but what other choice do we have...

"Let's get this over with." I say in a sarcastic tone. Again, trying to lift the mood.

-

The train station was packed as usual with first years running around to meet new people, saying bye to their families and finding a spot to sit.

Older kids were standing with their families, saying goodbye and heading to find somewhere to sit with their friends. They recognize us the second we step on to the platform and many glare at us. To be fair, we expected that but it's still weird.

Draco hasn't let go of my hand since we left Andromeda's house and I don't think he's going to let go of my hand until we're away from everyone. Not that I'm complaining. It makes me feel safe.

Eyes watching our every move as we walk towards the train and they continue to stare until we get to a private compartment.

"People have a fucking staring problem." Pansy shouts once the door is closed.

"They hate us." Blaise reminds her. "They're only staring. It could be worse."

"Just try and ignore them." Theo says softly.

"Fuck!" Pansy shouts and kicks the seat. "This school year is going to be rough."

"Once we get to school and they see what's happened, they'll stop paying attention to us." Draco says.

"I fucking hope so." Pansy continues. She's mad... I get it but she needs to calm down.

"Pans, calm down." I say. "We're fine."

"I'm just mad. They have no right to judge us." Pansy shouts again.

"Jeez pans. Relax before you bring more attention to us." Theo cries and Blaise puts an arm around her to calm her down.

"Everyone just calm down." I say. "Pansy, we're going to be fine. No one here understands, remember. Just keep telling yourself that."

She nods and sits down.

"Theo's right. We don't need to bring more attention to us." I continue. "Calm down."

Everyone else nods and sits down too.

"Blaise, tell us some crazy ass story to distract us." I say and Blaise smirks.

"Alright." He says and begins telling us a story from fourth year where him and some of his friends got into some trouble. The rest of us sat around and listened carefully, laughing when it was the right time and relaxing into our conversation and allowing ourselves to be distracted.

-

"Get your ass up, Maya." Draco shouts in my ear and I jump up.

I look around to see everyone leaving the train and Draco smirking up at me.

"Fuck you." I snap but it only makes him smile more.

"We can skip dinner and do that if you'd like." He smirks as he helps me up and takes my hand.

"No, we can't." I say firmly.

"And why not?" He asks.

"Because you pissed me off." I smirk.

"Oh would you two get a room." Theo whines. "I'm going to lose my appetite."

-

Walking into the Hogwarts felt so different from last time. It definitely felt like we don't belong here. It doesn't help that everyone keeps staring and turning to talk to their friends. I mean, they aren't even trying to hide it.

Sitting at the great hall with the rest of the Slytherins felt tense. People from the other houses keep glaring at us and talking to their friends. I notice Cho was looking directly at me and when we made eye contact, she turned to Luna and whispers something. Luna looks over to me after that but she doesn't glare, she smiles at me. I smile back but I know Luna is just too nice to hate anyone and that's the only reason.

Not surprising that the other Slytherin's don't care about what happened. They aren't staring or talking to their friends. Crabbe and Goyel made it clear that as long as we're on the dark lords side, we're good.

Fuck them.

I swear they're actually terrible people.

The great hall looks different this year. Snape removed all of the colour and happiness. The tables are not decorated fancy and we were told that the tables won't be here after today. When we are called to the great hall, other than meals, we will stand.

"This year will be very different for all of you. Focus on school and stay out of trouble, otherwise the carrows will punish you." Snape explains.

"This year will be different for all of us." I repeat and Theo snorts and Blaise chuckles.

"Yeah, what an understatement." Blaise says.

"I'm already over this." Draco adds.

"Me too."

"Back to the common room then?" Pansy suggests.

"Yes." Theo says. "At least people will leave us alone there."

"Um. McGonagall is coming this way." Blaise adds.

"Shit." I mumble.

"I think she's handing out class schedules." Draco says and rolls his eyes at us. "You guys worry too much."

"Oh." I mumble. "Right."

McGonagall came over to the Slytherin table and barely looked at us as she handed out the times tables. She dropped mine on the table in front of me, along with the others and then walked away.

"Wow." Blaise says after she's gone. "That was tense."

"She must've been there when The Chosen One told his side of the story, and she must've believed it." Theo explains.

"Fucking awesome." I say and roll my eyes.

"It's fine, let's just go to the common room. We've got classes tomorrow and I'm done with today." Pansy says.

And then it hit me.

What if I have a class without at least one of them in it?

I never even thought about that...