Out of the Shadows (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Chapter 13- Enemies (Ava)

A/N- Hey! I've been writing this chapter when I can, but we got our mock results and I realised that  I have a lot of work to do for school, so my updates may not be as frequent as I would like them to be. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter- I've been planning this particular one for ages so I hope it's worth it!

Chapter 13 (Ava)

"Ava."

I startled awake, sitting up and glancing around the room frantically. It was dark, and the only other person in there was Draco, still sitting on the chair beside my bed.

I steadied my breathing and stared at him, "What's wrong? Why did you wake me up?"

Draco stared at the floor in silence, his expression clearly troubled.

"Draco," I reached out and shook his arm, "What is it?"

"I've never been entirely honest with you, have I?" He muttered, not making eye contact, "I feel like I've really messed up your life in a way that cannot be undone."

I frowned in confusion, "I don't understand-"

"When I first saw you on the Hogwarts Express in that train carriage with the twins, you looked so happy. You had made some amazing friends and you had been reunited with your brother at last. And Fred was making you happy." Draco shook his head with a sigh.

"That's right," I spoke slowly, the eyebrows knitting together in confusion, "Everything was different then."

"That summer," Draco began, his voice shaky, "I went through a lot of training with my father. He taught me some extremely advanced spells, many of them illegal, and told me that he would brief me on how I would use them just before I returned to Hogwarts. At that point, Dumbledore had managed to locate you at last and the whole wizarding world had discovered that Ava Potter had been found. The Death Eaters were overjoyed."

I shifted nervously, wondering where this story was going.

"The week before we returned to Hogwarts, my father returned from a meeting with the Dark Lord and sat me down, telling me that he had a very important mission for me."

"To befriend me and capture me at the end of the year? I know this already, Draco-"

"No," Draco cut me off, finally raising his head and meeting my eyes with his own, "There was something that I had to do before then. Something that I will never forgive myself for, because I changed the course of your life entirely."

I gulped, suddenly conscious of the bile that was rising in my throat, "What?"

"My father asked me to sneak into Dumbledore's office before the Sorting Ceremony and charm the Sorting Hat." He paused, watching me, "All of the training and the advanced spells were finally put into action as I charmed the Sorting Hat to place you in Slytherin."

I stared at Draco, suddenly unable to hear anything apart from a strange ringing in my ears. I shook my head, trying to steady my increasing heart rate.

"What?" I managed to choke out, and Draco lowered his head, avoiding my gaze.

"Ava... I'm so sorry. You would have gone to Gryffindor. You would be in Gryffindor and you would be happy. You'd probably still be with Fred and George now, instead of here, with me."

I gulped, "Slytherin made me incredibly unhappy. Being in that house had an impact on me- I believed that I was truly destined to be evil. All you've done during these past few years is manipulate my mind. I could have been happy."

"Ava, I'm-" Draco began, but I cut him off sharply.

"Just get out. Get out." I hissed.

He nodded silently, standing up and walking towards the door. He hesitated as he opened the door as if he wanted to say something, but instead decided to leave in silence.