Traitor: A Draco Malfoy Story

twenty-seven

I walked the rest of the way back to the compartment with a smile, holding the music box. By now, the train had stopped, and I turned into a now empty compartment where my friends had been. Jenna left a note on the seat saying she was sorry they had to run but that I should write often during the break. I didn't know if I would be allowed given that the house I would be visiting was home to a secret society. 

Hermione came bounding down the hall, face flushed. "You ready, Azalea? Come on, we have to go! Lupin's here to take us to Grimmauld Place!"

I grabbed the canvas bag that I'd taken with me on the train and she handed me Gemini's cage. "Sorry, I know you don't want to be here," she said sympathetically. "We'll all try to make this Christmas meaningful for you."

"Oh, I know that this wasn't your decision," I said. "My anger isn't for the people who took me in after the Ministry stole my family's memory."

She looked at me with pity. I hated when people pitied me.

We rushed out onto the platform where a tall man, face full of jagged scars, stood with a small smile, his hands in his pockets. "Come on, you two!" He called. "Molly's the sweetest when people are on time. Anything less than that, and she might just give us to the dementors." He turned to me. "Hello, there. I'm Remus Lupin. I've heard so much about you already."

"I wish I could say the same," I said, offering a weak smile. I wish I'd heard of a lot of things.

"Well, we'll get to know each other very well over the next week or so," Lupin grinned. "Come, come."

He waved us over to where Harry, Ron, Fred, George, the ginger girl from the DA, and another red-haired boy sat waiting with a large man supporting himself on a gnarled staff. His face was stuck in a frown and his left eye bulged out of its socket, held in by a clear dome and a leather strap around his head. The eye flicked from side to side and it was incredibly unnerving.

A raggedy black dog stood panting next to Harry and the man, wagging its tail from time to time.

"No time to waste," barked the man. "The longer we stay out in the open the longer there is a risk."

Lupin rolled his eyes and chuckled. "That's Mad-Eye Moody for you. Always paranoid."

"Paranoia saves lives," growled Moody. "Come along, Sirius." The dog trotted along behind Moody as he limped away, beckoning the rest of us to follow him.

"His dog is cute," I said. My foster family before Barb and John had a dog, but it was a prissy shih tzu that I wasn't allowed to touch. She was their prized possession.

Ron snorted and Hermione giggled into her hand. "Actually," Harry said, grinning. "That's my godfather."

"Your godfather is a dog?" I asked.

"Animagus. But yes. He can turn into a dog." Harry clapped me on the shoulder. "We have a lot to catch you up on."

"You can do it in the car on the way, now hurry up, dammit!" shouted Moody.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Coming, coming."

The car wasn't as cramped as I had expected when I looked at the four-door coupe parked on the side of the street. As soon as Moody opened the door and I slid inside, I was amazed to see that the inside of the car was exponentially bigger than the outside. Not like a limousine, with seats but still cramped; the inside of the car was more like a lobby or waiting room. Plump red couches sat against each wall and an oak coffee table stood in the middle of the space. I wouldn't have remembered it was a vehicle if it were not for the lazy swing of the chandelier above us. "Ministry cars," whispered Harry. "Make yourself at home." The ten of us were able to sit comfortably during the handful of miles to Sirius' home.