Traitor: A Draco Malfoy Story

nineteen

I practically had smoke coming out of my ears I was so furious. I don't know what I expected from him, but it hadn't been a kiss, and it most certainly hadn't been whatever the fuck he did afterward. I kissed a Muggle. His words filled my head, the disgust in them bouncing around my skull until I was so mad I almost couldn't see, my vision swirling as I stormed down the corridors.

Suddenly, two people each grabbed one of my wrists. I struggled and fought the binding grips before I heard, "Oi! Stop it, will you?"

A shock of red hair came into focus, and I thought I was going insane for a second because I was looking at two exact copies of the same ginger boy. I shook my head furiously.

"Calm down, woman, honestly," said the one on my left.

"You'd think she'd have the common sense to not walk around in public while her entire body is smoking," said the one on my right.

I looked down at my arms. Grayish smoke, like the steam that had risen from my skin a month ago only thicker and darker, was rolling off my body in foggy waves. The boys dropped my wrists, both uttering an "Ouch!" of some sort before shaking their hands and blowing on them.

"She burned me, Fred!" said the boy on my left.

"She burned me too, George!" said the boy on my right. I looked at them closer. They looked similar to Ron. They must be Weasley's.

"I...I burned you?" I asked shakily. The boys took out their wands and uttered "Aguamenti" which I knew to spray water as they pointed them at their burned hands. Nothing came from their wands. The boys looked at each other, then at me, coy grins spreading on their faces. "That's a neat trick," Fred said. "What's making you do that, block our magic?"

"I'm not blocking your magic!" I said. "Let me see your hands."

They showed me their palms, the skin shriveled where they'd come in contact with my skin. Guilt crept into my chest and I forgot about my anger at Malfoy. The smoke dissipated, and as I watched, their hands became soft and young-looking again. "Woah," the twins said together.

I clasped my hands together. I don't know how I had just done that, or if it was even me. It couldn't have been me...could it?

"Wicked tattoo!" George exclaimed. My hand shot up to my neck and felt the raw skin where I knew the snake had expanded.

Nervously, I asked, "Did you, um, need something?"

George smacked his forehead with his freshly healed hand. "Oh, right! I almost forgot. Harry was looking for you. He said to meet him by the one-eyed witch statue."

"I love that he assumes that I know where that is," I said, a hint of annoyance tinting my voice.

"Well, that's why he sent us, of course!" Fred said, looping his arm with mine. George looped his with my other arm. "To the one-eyed witch, we go!"

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Fred and George were officially the best tour guides at Hogwarts. On the way to Harry, they pointed out their favorite rooms, hiding places, and views from the best windows. I had almost completely forgotten about Malfoy and instead was bathed in the laughter the three of us shared. It was the best I'd felt since arriving at this school.

Harry was pacing next to a statue of a withered and bent old woman with a zig-zagging staff. When he saw us approaching, his head snapped up and he came walking to meet us.

"When were you going to tell me that you and Malfoy had a duel?" he said angrily. "Not even the both of you. Just Malfoy."

"How do you know about that?" I said, shock covering my face.

"This Hufflepuff boy, he'd met us in The Hog's Head in Hogsmeade to meet about...it doesn't matter. All that matters is that he said he wished you could have made it, but he hadn't talked to you in weeks. A few of your other friends said the same thing, and we started discussing what could be going on...Jenna said you were pretty banged up and refused to talk to anyone about it."

"And you just assumed it was Malfoy?" I rolled my eyes. Ethan must have met with Harry before he came back to the castle. "I have to dance on a stone floor. I already almost fell over the railing of the Astronomy Tower, why is it so hard to believe I could have fallen out of pirouette?"

Harry looked at me, irritation twisting his features. "It wasn't that hard to figure out, Azalea. Cutting all your friends off because you 'fell'? You didn't do that the last time. You have to be more careful! You can't fight back."

I unlooped my arms from Fred and George and straightened my skirt. "Well, I did fight back. Something happened, and he couldn't fire a spell at me. It bounced off some sort of shield."

"You did what? How did you even do that?"

I rubbed my temples. "If I had a penny for every time I've been asked that..."

Fred raised his hand. "She burned us, earlier."

My gaze slid to the floor guiltily. "I healed you, didn't I?" It didn't matter if neither action was completely out of my control.

I thought Harry was going to fall over. "How is that a Muggle can fight off a trained wizard, and burn and heal another?"

I lowered my voice. "Should we be talking about this here?"

"In front of Fred and George? Oh, yeah, they're fine. They're part of a small gathering, an organization of sorts that I was going to ask if you wanted to join. You obviously have some sort of magic, and maybe it'll help you hone your skills. It's called Dumbledore's Army. Sort of a coup against Umbridge and her book-only teaching."

I nodded, agreeing. "That sounds like a good idea. Oh!" I exclaimed. "I need to go see Dumbledore, actually. The snake grew when I burned the twins." Pulling my hair aside, I showed Harry the new expansion. He traced his finger from my upper neck near my hairline to the nape of my neck near my spine. "It's hot to the touch," he whispered. "What is that?"

"I don't know," I said tiredly. "Maybe Dumbledore will know more."

"He's not here, Azalea."

I turned back to Harry, a questioning look in my eyes.

He rubbed a hand down his tired face. I was only now noticing the bags under his eyes, the grayish hue of his skin, and his cracked lips. He had been taking as much care of himself as I had, it looked like. At least I took a hot bath once a week to reset. He looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"Ministry leaders came to take him to Azkaban, said he was a danger to the student's minds," Harry sneered at the obvious overstep of their power. "He and Fawkes, his phoenix, disappeared. We named our Defense Against the Dark Arts club after him. Like my parents did, like their parents did..." he gestured at Fred and George. "Dumbledore's Army is supposed to train new members of the Order of the Phoenix."

"The Order of the Phoenix?" I asked.

"A secret organization dedicated to taking down Voldemort. Most are no longer with us, and the small lot of us that are left are no match for the army he's apparently building. The DA will at least give the students a glimpse into auror life. Magical law enforcement," he clarified for me. "We'll just have to keep an eye on your snake ourselves. Maybe Hermione can research it. It's kind of her thing."

I nodded. Hermione, I trusted. I was realizing, as I stood there, that I wasn't alone. I was never alone. Even when I had cut myself off, I still had people that cared about me, wanted me to be a part of something bigger, wanted to help fight the evils of the world, and wanted me to join them. My heart was full of happiness for the first time in a month.

I thought about Ethan, Jenna, Ashton, and Hermione. I even thought about Ron. They'd all been there for me this whole time, and I'd cut them off because I was scared. If they were so willing to fight for me, fully knowing the danger, then the least I could do was keep them in the loop.

"Yeah, I'll join Dumbledore's Army," I agreed. "I think it's time I learn if I can do some spells."

I smiled a true, happy smile. I may be just a Muggle, though one with very small magical powers, but I had something Malfoy didn't: true friends.