UNKNOWN | D.M (UNRAVEL BOOK 4)

[ 10 ]

Hogwarts Express was again, filled with the voices of the students bustling about and the Trolley witch sifting through the crowd with her Honeydukes snacks-filled cart. She cheerfully greeted Aine as she passes her cabin and the girl returned with a short smile and bought some Cauldron cakes to share with her friends during the journey. 

Ginny sat next to her while Fred, George and Harry sat opposite them. Just as Aine and her friends sat down, they turned to Hermione and Ron who were still standing by the cabin doors looking very awkward and still. "Aren't you coming in?" Ginny asks and Ron and Hermione exchange looks with one another as if egging the other to speak first. 

"Um," said Ron, looking away from his staring friends and siblings. 

"We're— Well... Ron and I are supposed to go into the prefect carriage," Hermione said awkwardly and Aine nodded with a smile. But their discomfort wasn't directed at Aine but at their best friend. Ron was looking away from Harry; his attention drifting to his fingernails on his left hand and he seemed pretty engrossed in picking the skin around his nails. 

"Oh," said Harry, realizing his friends were looking at him. "Right. Fine," he shrugs and the air around them got tenser. Even Fred and George had stopped teasing and joking around, their gaze fixated on the chosen one.

"I don't think we'll have to stay there all journey," said Hermione quickly. "Our letters said we just get instructions from the Head Boy and Girl and then patrol the corridors from time to time."

"Fine," Harry replies glumly and Aine stares at him without another word. He seemed to be in a bad mood but she didn't know whether it was due to his friends becoming prefects or something more. Though she was willing to bet that it was probably the latter. "Well, I might see you later, then," the boy bids, his lips falling into a thin line as he looks out of the window at the blurred scenery.

"Yeah, of course. See you," said Ron, casting a shifty, anxious look at Harry and Aine before he scrambles along with Hermione.

"Bye," Hermione timidly bids and Aine waves sweetly, watching the carriage doors shut close and their figure growing out of sight.

"That was awkward," Fred commented out of the blue and George elbowed him, shaking his head and mentally telling him that it wasn't the time to joke around. He just hoped that his twin got the telepathy message which, fortunately, Fred did. They all soon fell silent. 

Aine and Ginny glanced at one another, their eyes directed at Harry with worry before they trail down onto the Daily Prophet newspaper that was in his hands. Crumpled with trembling fingers as he shuts his eyes momentarily. She decided to take it away from the boy, knowing that the articles written about him weren't positive. Her hands slipped to the paper and she slowly removed it from Harry's hands, the boy not giving any care to what she was doing with it. When it was finally out of his grasp, she scans the title and heaved a small muffled sigh. 

'The Boy Who Lies' was plastered in bold all over the newspaper, followed by a picture of him during the Triwizard Tournament. Then at the corner of the page, she saw a small photograph of herself, Draco holding her as they stare at the unmoving body ahead of them with solemn looks. Then she read about herself in the small section:

She whispers under her breath as she read it out, "Miss Aine L. Estoileon, was found in the arms of Draco L. Malfoy during the aftermath of the tragic tournament games. Rumours have said that she has been conspiring alongside Harry J. Potter in telling false truths about He Who Should Not Be Named's return. Read on to find out all about it on Page—"

Aine took a deep breath and crushed it into a ball, her friends were giving her some weird looks and even Harry had snapped out of his little world to look at her and her hands. "What?" she asks, confused. She followed their eyes that were peered down to her hands and Fred whistled with a smirk.