Two Times the Flame | Draco Malfoy [2]

Chapter 7 ~ Train Ride Back to Hogwarts

Before we knew it, we all left for Hogwarts, ready for another year of breaking all the rules and not getting in trouble for it. For me, I would be sneaking around a lot with Cedric, my boyfriend! I loved saying that. Cedric Diggory was my boyfriend! I never had a boyfriend before, so this would be interesting.

But other than that, I had been thinking about what Malfoy said yesterday about me being worthless. Out of all the things he had said to me to bring me down and to make fun of me, that one hurt the most. He made it seem like Cedric only asked me out because he felt sorry for me. I didn't want to believe him, but maybe he was right. I was worthless. Maybe not to Voldemort, since he wanted to kill me, but to everyone else at Hogwarts.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I loaded our trunks up and headed into an empty compartment. None of us wanted to talk about anything at all, really. Hermione was reading the Daily Prophet, Ron was actually reading a book, and that left Harry and I staring out the window as we kept passing trees and hills of Scotland.

"Anything from the trolley?" someone from outside yelled. Ron immediately stood up and grabbed some money from his pocket. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" the lady asked us when she approached our compartment.

"A packet of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and a Liquorice Wand," Ron replied. As soon as Harry stood up, Ron was about to get the Liquorice Wand, but soon changed his mind. "On second thought, forget about the Liquorice Wand."

"I'll get it," Harry told him, but Ron ignored him and sat back down.

I went up there beside Harry, watching him trying to grab some candy. That was until a voice came from behind the trolley. A girl with black hair and tan skin came up to the trolley. This caught Harry's eye.

"Two Pumpkin Pasties, please," she said.

The whole time she was standing there, not once did she take her eye off Harry. And he wasn't taking his eye off her either. It was obvious that Harry found her attractive. I didn't blame him. She was pretty. Harry was standing there, smiling like an idiot. After she left, he watched her leave with her two friends.

"Anything sweet for you, dear?" the lady asked Harry. This made him snap out of the trance he was in just now.

"Oh, no, I'm not hungry. Thank you," he replied, then went back to his seat. He probably felt like an idiot.

"What about you, sweetheart?" she asked me.

"Um, yeah, I'll have two Liquorice Wands, please," I said as she gave me the candy and I gave her the money. I bid her thank you and went back to my seat beside Harry.

"This is horrible," Hermione spoke up. "How can the Ministry not know who conjured it?"

"Hermione, do you know who the Minister for Magic is? He probably doesn't know anything about Quidditch," I told her.

"Well, there must've been security or something at the match, right?" Point valid, Hermione.

"Loads, according to Dad," Ron replied with a mouthful of candy. "That's what worried them so much. Happened right under their noses."

"Fudge really is an idiot," I muttered. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain come from my scar. The same happened to Harry. We both rubbed our foreheads and the pain stopped.

Hermione took notice of this. "They're hurting again, aren't they? Your scars."

"We're fine," we lied, shrugging our shoulders.

"Will you two stop doing that?!" Ron cried out.

But Hermione ignored him and continued talking to us. "You know Sirius will want to hear about this. About what you two saw at the match and the dream."

Harry sighed and looked out the window. I started eating my candy in silence. Harry nudged me, motioning me to go to the Owlery with him. We both stood up and left the compartment, closing the door on the way out.

"So what did you see in the dream?" Harry asked.

"A Muggle caretaker getting killed by Voldemort," I replied. "What about you?"

"Same," he responded. "We might as well just write one letter to him, since we both saw the same thing."

"Yeah," I mumbled.

Once we got to the Owlery, Harry finally started asking more questions. "Are you okay, Max?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I shrugged.

He took a bite out of my licorice, then continued. "Well, you've been acting weird since Malfoy came over yesterday. Did he say something to you?"

I didn't answer. I just sat there in silence, chewing on another piece of Licorice. He sighed and started writing the letter to Sirius.

About halfway through the letter, I spoke up. "Harry, am I worthless?"

He looked up at me in confusion. "Of course not. Why would you ask that?"

"Because that's what Malfoy told me yesterday," I replied.

Harry stopped writing and looked at me. "What did he say?"

I looked down at my feet. "He said that Cedric didn't fall for worthless bitches like me."

Harry sighed and then took my hands. "Max, look at me." I looked up at him. "You are not worthless. You're better than him. We both are. Max, you can't let Malfoy bring you down like that. You and I both know that he's wrong."

"Harry, if you saw the way they treat me--"

"Just because they treat you like an animal over there doesn't mean that you're worthless. Whatever they say about you means nothing."

"What about Cedric?"

He sighed. "Cedric has found my beautiful sister who isn't afraid to kick some arse." I laughed at this. "I'm sorry about what I said to you yesterday."

I smiled at him. "Thank you, Harry."

He smiled back and turned back to the letter. "I think we should finish this letter."

I stood up and started walking towards the door. "Yeah, actually, I was going to go back to the compartment. Is that okay?"

He turned back around and nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you there."

I nodded back and walked out the door. Just my luck, Malfoy and his crew were nowhere to be found.

"Well, well, well, look what the wind blew in." Just kidding. I found them. Right in front of me it was Crabbe and Goyle, two idiots with stomachs that were bigger than their brains.

"Goyle, I'm surprised the wind was capable of blowing you in," I retorted.

Before he could do anything, Malfoy came up behind him. "Don't bother, Goyle. She's not worth it."

"Shut up, Malfoy," I snapped.

"Did the bitch just tell me to shut up?" Malfoy said as if he was offended. "You'll pay for that."

"No, I won't." I smirked. That was when I went ninja on him. I kneed him right in the groin. Malfoy bent over and started groaning in pain. "I'm not worthless." I walked by the idiotic trio and smiled to myself.

A/N: Hey! Did y'all like that chapter? I hope y'all did.

So yeah this chapter didn't take long to write. I really want this book to be done, because I'm already thinking ahead of what's gonna happen in the series. I can't wait to start on the next book in this series!

So I want five comments before I post the next chapter. Okay so comment, vote, and bye!

-A