𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

𝟐.𝟕 - 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭

 It was the following morning that you finally got a letter from your parents. It came by owl, but it was an owl you'd never seen before. Soots hadn't been sent out since you arrived at Hogwarts, Draco's warning still lingering in the back of your brain even though you knew you couldn't be harmed now that you were at school.

This new, mysterious bird flew over your table at breakfast and dropped a creme-colored envelope onto your empty plate. You only reached to open it after Pansy left for the bathroom just in case it held any sensitive information.

It had been written by your mother and signed by both her and your father. He had never been a man for many words unless those words were spoken in front of someone he needed to impress. In her beautiful, swooping, handwriting, your mother wrote:

'My dearest (Y/N), 

 Your father and I are glad that you are safe at Hogwarts for the time being. Not much can be said over the post regarding our...disagreement. However, please understand that we love you very much and only wish the best for your future. Please write back as soon as possible. 

- A.F, A.F.'

You fought the urge to rip it up into a million pieces and throw it over your shoulder. Instead, you found yourself folding it back up into the envelope and shoving it deep into your bag. After breakfast concluded, you decided to take a trip down to the Owlery in order to write them back. You didn't know exactly what you were going to say to them, but perhaps the walk down would clear your mind a bit.

On your way to the tower, you shrugged on your robes overtop your sweater. It was well into autumn now and the air outside was sharp with cold. Frost blanketed the grass in place of the morning dew and it crunched underneath your shoes as you walked.

Just as you were about to start climbing the tower stairs, you saw movement in the corner of your eye. Turning your head, you saw Harry jogging down the hill toward Hagrid's hut, robes billowing after him. You and he hadn't spoken since detention with Umbridge and you felt the need to check up on him. Especially since you realized that detention with Umbridge was a bigger deal than you had originally thought.

"Harry!" You called, turning on your heel to chase after him. He had just reached the edge of the forbidden forest when he heard your calls and stopped dead in his tracks. A few moments later, you caught up and clung to his sleeve as you composed yourself. He smiled down at you and waited patiently for you to catch your breath.

"How is your hand doing?" He asked. You pulled up your sleeve and displayed your hand out to him. You had taken the bandages off that morning before breakfast after it had stopped bleeding sometime during the night. It had scabbed over and the words were less legible than they had been. The pain was still present but you found that you could easily distract yourself with schoolwork and senseless drama that Pansy cooked up about other students.

"What about yours?" You asked. You didn't actually know if he had gotten the same punishment that you had. Regardless, he pulled his left hand out of his pocket and hiked up his sweater sleeve. Your fears were confirmed as you read the jagged message carved across his wrist in red angry letters. 'I must not tell lies,' it read, barely. 

"Oh Harry," you sighed, running the pad of your thumb underneath the sentence.

Harry snatched his hand back and inspected it for himself. "She's the one who mustn't tell lies," he muttered angrily. "She's lying to everyone about Voldemort's return."

"I know," you nodded, patting him gently on the shoulder. Before anything else could be said, a loud shriek was heard further off into the forest. It sounded like an animal of some sort and you jumped back as it echoed through the treetops. A few crows scattered through the skies away from the noise.