Draco Malfoy and the Girl Who Hid

6

They had missed the carriages. They arrived at the start of the path in time to see the final carriage dissolve into a speck of dust in the distance, carrying the last of the students toward the wrought iron gates.

"Looks like we're walking," Draco slipped his hand into his pocket with a sigh.

"Great," Yn moaned. She looked back over her shoulder, as if she was expecting another carriage to appear. As she took the first step of many on the path to Hogwarts, she felt as though there was someone behind her. Watching her. But every glance behind only reinforced that she had adopted some of her father's paranoia.

The pair walked for the next few minutes in silence. Yn noted how the trees curled above them almost forming a cave. She had expected to hear creatures that hid in the densely packed forest, but she could not pick out a sound. The silence started eating at her. They couldn't maintain it for the entire journey. They awkwardness would only grow.

Draco cleared his throat first. Clearly the same was going through his mind. "How are things with the Rosiers?"

Yn continued to look forward, her steps matching Draco's. His strides were long, and she was having to quicken her pace to avoid falling behind. She tilted her head to the side at Draco's attempt at small talk. Is this really what he wanted to talk about? "Fine," she chimed, with an unsatisfying half smile.

Surely, she must be holding back, Draco thought himself. He has heard horrendous things about Phineas Rosier, and he was inclined to believe them seeing as he had walked in the shadow of a prolific death eater for nearing sixteen years. None of the pureblood families were fine. They all held secret behind closed doors to stop tearing them apart and muddying their blood. Whether it worked was debatable. Draco himself was yet to test the theory. "Isn't Phineas a bit..." Draco searched for the best word. "Uptight."

That was one way to put it. "He's not so bad when you get to know him." Yn explained. That wasn't a lie. Either Phineas was good at hiding his treachery or he truly wasn't bad as people said. "I'm grateful to him and Lucinda for welcoming me. They didn't have to do that."

"Lucinda is your godmother, isn't she?"

Yn nodded. She peered into the distance. The path seemed never ending. Then she glanced at her watch and noted that the time was ticking just as slowly. Was everything against her. At this rate she would have to tell Malfoy her entire life story. "My mother was like Lucinda's adopted sister, after her mother got ill."

"Doesn't that mean she had to take you in?" Draco pointed out. He wasn't trying to be harsh. It was however failing to translate to Yn like that.

Yn's chest twinged involuntarily. "Not really. I do still have a father. Besides, I'm sure my mother had not anticipated her unfortunate... demise." Yn had to rapidly block the images that sprang to her mind. "Lucinda is young. Sometimes I feel like I'm taking care of her. But she means well. As for Phineas... I have learnt it's best to just stay out of his way and he doesn't bother you."

That bothered Draco, which surprised him. But he felt annoyed that it seemed she should have to compromise on everything. "Is that what you do? Stay out of the way?" Draco tried to frame his inquiry as nonchalant throw away words, but he was heavily invested in finding out more about Yn. Who was she now? Where had she been? What did she know? Why did they want her? He knew sooner or later they would ask him about her. Even if it was just in curiosity. He wanted to be prepared for that. But more notably he wanted to be one step ahead and found out what inspired the curiosity. He understood the novelty that he students at Hogwarts would feel purporting from Yn's return, they were teenagers after all. It couldn't be helped. But the parents. The adults. The Followers. Draco had heard many a whisper within his own home, at Malfoy Manor, over this past summer.