The Slytherin Princess | Draco Malfoy x Reader

Chapter 60: Back to Hogwarts

You, Juniper, and the Gryffindor trio return to Hogwarts to search for the remaining horcruxes.

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It was dark. The clouds were so thick and so black that even the moon was hidden. You considered that a blessing. The less light there was to expose your group, the better. But it did make it difficult to see.

It had been exactly three days since you'd laid your plan out bare to Ron Weasley's parents. You and Molly had spent the time working to the bone to get Slytherin robes made for the Gryffindor trio you were sneaking into the castle. You'd gotten them to fit perfectly, which, you and Molly knew, was thanks to the help of some last-minute magic touches. You and Juniper had thrown on your own Slytherin robes to match, and you'd packed up your meager belongings yet again to return to the castle you'd fled just a month before.

You had to admit, it was very weird seeing Ron, Hermione, and Harry in green-and-silver robes. Sure, Harry had told you he'd almost ended up in the serpent-represented house during the Sorting Ceremony, but it had been so long by now that seeing the brunette adorned in colors other than red and gold threw you off.

Hermione looked down at her new robes disdainfully, although she tried to wipe the look off her face as she looked back up at the rest of you. Ron seemed to be avoiding looking at his robes altogether. The only people who were completely comfortable in the colors of Slytherin were you and Juniper.

You could somewhat understand why the trio was uncomfortable. Your house had produced Tom Riddle, the very man you were going back to Hogwarts to face. Your house had produced Severus Snape, the Potions professor that nobody but Dumbledore had trusted. Your house was notorious for the villains of the story, and now your friends were dressed like they were, too.

You decided not to broach the topic. Ron, Harry, and Hermione not wanting to be in Slytherin had no bearing on the mission currently at hand. They knew what they had to do to get back into the castle unnoticed. If they branched off from the plan after the five of you made it to the castle, it was going to be their problem by then.

You gave heartfelt goodbyes to the Weasleys, promising to keep Ginny safe once you found her at school. You knew what the girl looked like, you'd seen her with Harry a lot. So you simply nodded along with the promises the trio made, hoping Juniper would do the same.

"Be safe, all of you," Molly said as Ron opened the front door to usher your group outside. "Don't do anything foolish."

Ron chuckled quietly as the rest of you went out the door he was holding open. "Don't worry, Mum," he said, a foot out the door already. "You couldn't get rid of us if you tried."

He shut the door behind him with a click, a sound that settled in your mind as something of a final goodbye. You couldn't explain the feeling in the pit of your stomach. All you knew was that it wasn't a pleasant one.

Ron sighed as he stepped off the porch, pulling his wand out of his pocket just like the rest of you had already done. "Right outside Hogwarts, right?" he asked, and Harry nodded at him. "Across the lake," Harry said, reiterating the plan you'd just gone over.

Ron nodded once, before linking arms with Hermione and raising his wand.

You linked arms with Juniper and raised your own wand, looking at Harry, who was standing alone with his own wand high in the air. It was symbolic, you supposed, that he was the only one standing by himself.

"See y'all in a second," Juniper quipped, bringing a faint smile to the face of everyone in your group.

You cast the spell to Apparate—forever grateful that Harry and Hermione had taught you the spell after you had destroyed Salazar Slytherin's locket, though you still hated the feeling of it. But with a loud crack and the feeling of relief after your head didn't implode, you landed next to Juniper on the bank of the river across from Hogwarts.