Through All the Pain // N. Longbottom

Summer 1996 // Chapter 2

"ZZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZ!!!!"

Ron's obnoxious snoring woke me up, though I really tried to muffle it out by plugging my ears. Sadly, nothing worked and I had to get up and leave the room. That's when I realized I had been laying on Ron's floor feet away from Ginny, while one of the twins laid on the guest bed that Harry would sometimes occupy.

I trudged my way out of the room and down the hall to mine, and I noticed the door was shut tight. I growled as Ginny must've shut the door by force of habit last night, which meant our room would be hotter than hell. I slowly opened the door and saw that the window was left open and an Owl was sitting on the windowsill. 

"It's too early for the mail!" I grumbled walking over and taking the letter from the Owl, causing the Owl to fly off into the night. As I looked at the letter I realized it had a wax seal on it and turned on my light to get a better look. The wax had the Malfoy Crest in it! 

"Why the hell is a Malfoy sending me a letter?" I said practically ripping apart the envelope. I pulled out the letter and quickly read it.

Dear L.M.W,

I don't know why I am writing this to you, but I am so please be grateful. With my Father now imprisoned I have to step up and be the man of the house. I am being shoved into a world I don't honestly want to be in but have no choice. Not only was I threatened but my Mother too and I will not let anyone harm her in any way.

I'm writing to warn you that you're in danger. Lorrinda, Bellatrix has informed You-Know-Who that you can block the killing curse and he has made a plan to get you over the winter holidays. As I learn more I will tell you but Lori, please stay safe and out of danger. I may not have shown it before now, but I really care about you and don't want you to get hurt. 

With a caring heart,           
                                      D.L.M

I stared at the letter that was in my hands before folding it up and tucking it in with a spellbook and placing the book in the bottom of my trunk. Not once in the past five years has Draco Malfoy been nice to me so I wondered if this was all a setup. However, I just decided to try and forget about it all until the beginning of the school year. I changed out of the clothes Ron gave me the night before (so I wasn't sitting on the floor in my dress) and changed into my nightclothes and crawled into my bed. 

Before I knew it I had Ginny shaking me awake and the sunlight was blasting in through my window. Ginny was acting weird and that's when I heard her, Mum was shouting and ranting. I got out of bed and walked down the hall with her and met Ron along the way. 

"What's Mum going on about?" I asked. 

"Apparently one of the Order members has been killed," Ron spoke gravely. I looked at him and just shook my head. The previous night both Bill and Dad had been on missions for the Order after the wedding. "I don't know, Lori."

"It c-can't be either of them, can it?" I said leaning up against the railing. "Mum would be crying not screaming." 

"You never know with Mum," Ginny said, causing both Ron and I to pale at those words and get to reach out and hold onto each other. We stood and continued to listen to Mum's shouting (none of us able to understand what was being said) when finally we heard a voice that made us all sigh in relief. 

"Molly, just breath!" Dad's voice came. We all sighed in relief at knowing Dad was okay but that didn't really help with our anxiety as we didn't know if Bill was okay yet. 

"Don't tell me to breathe Arthur!" Mum shouted, "Emmeline was a good friend and an even better witch."

"Emmeline?" I said looking down, as Mum came into view.