inevitable - draco malfoy

chapter twenty two

I awoke on Christmas morning to Fred and George shaking me.

"It's Christmas, Amelia!" They cheered in unison.

"I know," I groaned before turning over and covering my head with a pillow. "You're both like children!"

We had been staying at the same house that we stayed at through the summer. The whole Weasley family were plus Lupin, so I suspected Sirius was also somewhere in the house. I eventually rolled out of bed and trudged down the stairs. I was sharing a room with Ginny and she was nowhere to be seen. Everyone was sat in the living room area opening gifts, so I plopped myself down next to Ron.

"Ah, Amelia! You're finally awake!" Molly smiled before handing me a small parcel. I tore the paper apart to reveal a hand knitted jumper with a large 'A' on the front of it. I smiled at Molly before giving her a hug and thanking her, pulling the jumper over my head no matter how ridiculous it looked.

The day passed quickly, and we soon were sat at the table eating the feast Molly had cooked up for us. I was sat in-between Ron and George as we began tucking into the food, Ron eating like he hadn't been fed in months causing me to elbow him and tell him to slow down.

Eventually we finished the meal and instead sat with drinks in front of us, conversation flowing. Molly had had a couple too many drinks and was clearly feeling giddy as she brought out a photo album and began going through baby pictures of us all.

"Oh, how sweet were you both!" Molly fawned, shoving a picture of Ron and I bathing together as babies in our face.

"Charming." Ron grumbled, shoving his face into his hands. Harry began laughing as Molly turned the page to show a picture of Ron posing in one of my dresses when he was around 6 years old and I couldn't contain my laughter either.

I quickly became distracted as Lupin walked over to Harry and whispered something in his ear before Harry nodded and stood up, following him out the door.

"Where are you going?" I called to Harry as everyone else were still distracted by the baby pictures. Harry turned back at me and opened his mouth but stumbled on his words slightly.

"I'll be back in a moment." He sent a forced smile towards me, clearly agitated that I had noticed him leave but I stood to my feet.

"No, where are you going?" I repeated slightly louder. Harry ignored me and continued to follow Lupin out of the kitchen. I stood still for a moment before getting myself worked up. I wasn't going to let this happen again. Everyone had gone quiet and were looking at me awkwardly which only annoyed me more. I pushed my chair back causing it to squeak loudly as I ran out of the room to find out where they had gone.

"Ron!" I heard Molly scold Ron as I left but I didn't give it a second thought. Along the corridor, in the same room as I last saw him, I caught a glimpse of Sirius sat down as Lupin and Harry both entered. I couldn't quite tell what expression laced his face as he caught my eye, somewhat scared but also hopeful. However, I reached the door, Lupin quickly noticed me and slammed the door shut. When I attempted to grab the doorknob and open the door once again, the door appeared to be locked shut. I was so frustrated I banged my fist against the door causing a loud bang before tears started to stream out of my eyes.

I hated people seeing me cry more than anything, however it felt as though it was a common occurrence as of recent. I took a deep breath before running up the stairs towards the room Ginny and I were staying in. I sat down on my bed and put my head in my hands.

I didn't want to constantly be a burden by doing this every time we were home; however, I was sick of having secrets kept from me.

After a few moments, there was a quiet knock on the door.

"Come in." I said in a small voice before wiping my eyes on the sleeves of my new knitted jumper. Ron walked in before giving me an awkward smile, his jumper mirroring mine but with an 'R' instead of an 'A' and his was red whereas mine was purple. I kept my mouth shut as I was angry at him too, but he walked over to me and sat down beside me.

We sat in silence for a moment before I couldn't hold it in anymore and I began sobbing once again. Ron wrapped his arms around me as I cried into his chest, I knew how uncomfortable this probably made him as Ron had the emotional intelligence of a rock however I didn't care. It had gotten to the point where I found it too hard to hold it all in.

"He's only trying to keep you safe; you know." Ron mumbled to me as I began to calm down.

"How on earth is keeping everything a secret from me keeping me safe?" I questioned, which came out slightly incoherent as my face was still pressed into his chest.

"I know it seems mad – but you've just got to trust him." Ron continued.

"But you guys clearly don't trust me." I groaned dramatically, pulling away from the hug.