𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙨 (𝖽𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖿𝗈𝗒 𝗑 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋)

nineteen

I stepped off of the train, glad to be back by Courtney and Fawn. My thoughts were nagging me at the back of my mind, making me feel guilty for lying to my friends.

No, I'm not lying. I'm just not telling them everything that happened this summer.

I tugged at the sleeve of my robe, worry filling my mind about my new Dark Mark. I tried shaking away my thoughts as we walked, but they remained there, resonating in the back of my mind.

"Y/n!" Fawn said, leaning on me unexpectedly. "Are you okay? You look worried."

"What? No, no I'm okay, I just have a lot on my mind."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Courtney asked, holding out a hand to help me into the thestral-pulled carriages.

I sat down, helped Fawn get in, and started fidgeting with my hands. "You-Know-Who has my dad." That wasn't a lie.

"What?" cried both of my friends in unison.

"What would He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named want with your dad? I mean, he's a Muggle, right?" Courtney said, emotion evident even though she had never met my dad.

I didn't realise that I started crying, and spoke. "I don't know," I lied. "I'm just scared, for him and for myself. And for you guys. I mean, if he's coming after me and my loved ones you two could be in danger, and I'm sorry if anything happens—"

"Take a deep breath, Y/n," Fawn said, hugging me. "We'll be okay."

"I'm sure your father will be okay. He's a strong guy, from what you've said about him." Courtney's hair, once again bright red, distracted me for a second, and I was able to pull myself together.

"New colour?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yup."

Soon the carriages had arrived at Hogwarts, and Fawn pulled us down and to the gates. Professor Flitwick stood there, clipboard in hand and quill in the other.

"Names?"

"Professor, you've known us for—"

"Yes, I know. However, Dumbledore wants extra security in Hogwarts. Names?"

"Y/n L/n, Courtney Sorlain, and Fawn Taylor."

"Alright, you may enter."

Fawn grabbed our hands and ran inside of the castle, excitement bubbling off of her as she dragged us with her.

"Come on!" she said, giggling. "I wanna see the sorting!"

We walked into the castle, hand in hand in hand.

"Oh, man. This year can either be absolutely horrible, or absolutely amazing. Hopefully it's the latter," I said, already knowing it would be the former.

We entered the Great Hall to the usual chatter of the other students. The Hufflepuff table was filled except for the place where Fawn, Courtney, and I have sat every day since first year.

The sorting started and I turned to my friends. "Can you believe we're sixth years already? We've been here for such a long time, it's crazy."

"I know, I was just thinking the same thing," Courtney said.

Fawn and Courtney sat across from me at the table, which meant I was facing the entrance to the Great Hall. That also meant that I saw Harry Potter and a blonde girl in Ravenclaw robes walk into the Great Hall. Potter's face was bloody and swollen, which concerned me.

I watched him sit down with his two friends and they started freaking out. Hermione immediately pulled out her wand and his face was clean with a simple spell. I just wanted to know how that happened.

I looked at the Slytherin table, and I made eye contact with Draco. He must have seen the concern in my face because he pointed to the Great Hall entrance and stood up, beckoning me to follow.

"I'll be right back—maybe," I said to my friends.

"Okay . . . ?" Courtney said before turning around to see Draco at the doors.

"Oh! Take all the time you need, Y/n," Fawn said, winking jokingly.

I rolled my eyes and walking to the doors to meet Draco. We quickly left the Great Hall and stood by the staircase by the doors.

"What did you do?" I said, crossing my arms.

"Uh, I—How'd you know?"

"Why else would you want me to come out here during the sorting?"

"Oh, yeah. Okay. Potter was snooping around in my compartment, listening to my conversation with Crabbe and Goyle—so I spelled him once the train had stopped, and I broke his nose."

"Draco! You don't just do that!"

"I know, I know, but I wasn't thinking!"

"Well, he's fine now. Are you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good. We should get back to our tables."

~~~

"Hey, Y/n, there's something I need to show you. It's for Voldemort."

I followed the blond idiot through the halls of Hogwarts, to the fifth floor. We walked towards a certain tapestry and I knew that we were headed to the Room of Requirements.

"Huh? What do we need in here?"

"You'll see." He opened up the door to a cluttered room with lots of junk—maybe a storage room?

I followed Draco in and we walked to an old cabinet.

"Okay . . . what is this?"

"It's the Vanishing cabinet. There's a matching one in Borgin and Burkes. This one is broken, though. We need to fix it."

"Why?"

"Because if you put something—or someone—in it, they'll instantly be transported into the other cabinet. If we fix this, death eaters will be able to get into the castle, and even though neither of us want that to happen, we don't have much of a choice anymore."

I nodded. "Yeah, you're right. When does it have to be fixed?"

"I'm not sure, but sometime before the end of the school year."

"Okay, I'll help you."