Undeniable Desire (Draco Malfoy)

15. The shrieking shack

Chapter Fifteen

Fred led me down the corridors, I had no idea where he was leading me, but I followed without any more questions.

Finally, we stopped in front of a stone statue. Fred tapped his wand on it and muttered the word "Dissendium" under his breath. The statue began to open up, and to my surprise, a dark passageway was revealed.

"Oh wow, where does this lead?" I asked in amazement as we entered.

"You will see" He smiled knowingly.

We both made our way through the passageway and after about an hour of walking, we hit some stairs that seemed to rise upwards steeply. Fred led the way up the stairs and stopped near the top. He pushed up against the roof and a trap door swung open above us. He poked his head up above it.

"The coast is clear" He whispered down to me.

He hoped through the trap door and reached his hand down to help me up. After the long walk, I was feeling kind of tired and really wanted to sit down for a bit. But I didn't want Fred to see how Lazy I was.

I noticed that we seemed to be in the cellar to some small building "Where are we?" I asked.

"Come on" Fred grabbed my hand ignoring my question. We went up the stairs that led out of the cellar, and I noticed straight away that we were in Honeydukes shop.

"The shop is closed so no one will notice us sneaking out," Fred told me as he grabbed my hand and led me across the sweets filled shop to the front door. He unlocked the door and we walked through to the empty street outside, the sky was a very dark blue and night time was nearly upon us.

The wind carried loud drunken voices from the pub down the road. It was a bit cold, and I wrapped my arms around myself, I wished I had brought a jumper now. I looked at Fred, he too had not brought a jumper, but the cold did not seem to bother him.

"Where are we going too?" I asked him, I rubbed my arms, trying to keep warm.

"Have you ever been to the shrieking shack before?" He asked me with a mischievous smile.

I shook my head no, and to be honest I was not too keen going there either. It was supposed to be one of the most haunted houses in England and not the good kind of haunted like Hogwarts.

Fred seemed to notice the worried look on my face and shook his head "It's not really haunted you know" He laughed.

"How do you know that?" I asked him with a shudder.

Fred grabbed my hand and began to lead me off the main road to a small dirt track "Because George and I go there all the time"

"Oh" I began to feel better about it "Speaking of George, why isn't he here?"

"He's a bit busy at the moment" Fred laughed like it was some sort of inside joke I was not aware off. My first thought was maybe he was hooking up with a girl back at Hogwarts.

In the distance on a hill, the shrieking shack came into view. We still had a bit to walk, but I did not mind. Being out with Fred kept my mind of everything that was happening with Seamus and Draco.

I sighed out loud and Fred turned his head to look at me. He grabbed my hand in a friendly way to try and comfort me.

"Don't worry Lexi, I will be your friend" He smiled sweetly at me.

I smiled back, I didn't understand why he was being so nice to me. Every other Gryffindor hated me and I have never really spoken to Fred much before today.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked him looking up at his smiling freckled face.

Fred shrugged "I'm nice to everyone" He grinned looking down at me. I shook my head and rolled my eyes at him.

"I know that's a lie" I laughed "You are always pulling pranks on people. I even saw you make a first-year cry the first day we got back"

"Not my fault if the kid couldn't take a joke"

"Well, I would be pretty upset if you turned my hair green as well" I frowned at him in a joking disapproving way.

Fred put his arm around my shoulder "Don't worry. I will never turn your hair green" He laughed "Pink on the other hand. I can't promise I won't"

I playfully pushed Fred arm off me "I will just have to get to you first"

"Game on" Fred challenged with a laugh. Before I had a chance to reply we stopped walking. I looked up at the old broken down house that stood before us. I didn't realize how far we had walked, Fred was good at keeping my mind off everything. I was happy he wanted to be my friend because I really felt like I needed one right now.

"Ladies first" Fred gestured to the front door of the house, which stood slightly ajar.

I gulped nervously as I took a step forward. I reached out my hand and slowly pushed the door all the way open. It made a loud sounding creaking noise as it swung backward on its hinges.

It was dark inside and I could not see a thing. I pulled out my wand from my pocket. "Lumos" I whispered, and the tip lit up so I could see.

I walked inside slowly, the old floorboards creaked under me with every step. I turned around nervously to make sure Fred was still behind me. But he wasn't.

"Fred?" I said turning back towards the door. The door slammed shut by itself and I ran back over to it and tried to pull it back open. It would not budge, it was stuck.

"Fred" I yelled loudly banging on the door. I used my wand to try to open the door. I could hear the lock unclick, but it would still not pull open.

"Lexi?" I heard Fred's worried voice coming from the other side of the door. "Lexi? Why did you close the door?" He asked me. He rattled the door handle trying to get in.

I heard a creaking sound from behind me and I quickly turned to see what it was. "Who's there?" I asked nervously. My eyes darted around the room. My wand lit the room up a bit, but not well enough for me to see everything.

I turned around and tried to open the door again. I used my wand again, but it still did not work. The creaking came from behind me again and I shivered nervously.

"Fred, open this door right now!" I yelled at him.

"I am trying Lexi. It won't budge" He replied back, his voice held panic in it.

I felt something touch my shoulder and I jumped back and screamed. When I turned around to see who, or what it was, nothing was there.

"Lexi, are you okay?" Fred asked me from outside.

"Please let me out" My voice trembled. I know Gryffindors are supposed to be brave, but I would rather not try my luck against an angry ghost.

"Go to the back door, it might be open" Fred suggested.

I began to run through the house towards the back. I could hear footsteps running behind me and I quickened my pace as my heart rate rose. I didn't dare look back. The back door was in my sights and I ran as fast as my legs would take me.

My hand reached out for the door handle and just before I reached it, someone grabbed me from behind "Got you" A deep voice whispered in my ear and it felt like my heart stopped inside my chest.