𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

𝟐.𝟏𝟔 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰

 After hiding away in your room for the remainder of the morning, you swallowed your pride and went back downstairs to face the source of your fears head-on. You and your parents ended up having an hour-long conversation about their new roles in Voldemort's army. You were shocked to discover that your father had inherited a somewhat powerful position close to Voldemort himself. You didn't know if you were more proud or terrified.

The talk took place in the drawing-room. When you stepped in, you were immediately bombarded with flashbacks of the summer gala where you had met Draco for the first time. The air of the room was cold and stale and if you had to guess, it hadn't been used in a very long time. Perhaps not since the gala itself.

The entire time they talked, you took mental notes on what information you could give back to The Order when you saw them again. They interrogated you non-stop about where you disappeared to and you lied on the spot, telling them that you had taken some money with you and stayed at a run-down old motel on the outskirts of London before hitchhiking to King's Cross in early September to catch the train to Hogwarts.

For good measure, you confessed to seeing Draco at the Ministry. "He tried to take me back to you," you lied. "But I ran away."

When they asked you if you had told anyone about them becoming Death Eaters, you shook your head quickly. Technically, this wasn't a lie because the members of The Order had already known from the rumors circulating the wizarding community.

Your answers seemed to satisfy them and they released you to go about your business. On the way back to your room, you saw that the door to Draco's bedroom was slightly ajar. The lights inside were on and you could hear the low hum of voices as you passed. It occurred to you that he and his family were having a private discussion of their own.

Too afraid of getting caught eavesdropping, you decided to hurry yourself along and find solace in the quiet of your room which was where you were now, curled up tightly on the small sofa in front of the fire.

Your day-clothes had been abandoned in favor of the most comfortable pair of sweatpants you owned and a loose top. There was a book open on your lap but you couldn't focus long enough to get through the first few pages. It had been a parting gift from Hermione at the end of your fourth year that had gotten lost in your trunk up until today when you found it during your search for pajamas.

Now that the one thing you had been dreading for weeks had passed without much incident, your brain was freed up to other concerns.

You had nearly forgotten about the incident with Harry in the Room of Requirement. Remembering it again made you groan and sink deeper into the sofa. The book slid off of your lap and fell open on the hardwood floor. You paid it no mind, instead, covering your face with your hands and sighing. 

Harry was free to kiss whoever he liked. Why did it bother you so much?

"Because you like him, idiot," you grumbled to yourself without thinking. After saying this, you dropped your hands and sat up straight. "Do I?"

Sure, Harry was sweet. Probably the sweetest boy you knew at school. Not to mention kind, brave, and thoughtful. He obviously cared about you deeply but after you'd seen him and Cho together, you weren't really sure how to feel.

A soft tapping pulled your attention away from your thoughts and you scrambled across the couch to get a better look at where the sound had come from. In the dim firelight, you could see that there was a blizzard raging outside. Flurries of dark snowflakes darted past the window.

Taking the candlestick from the coffee table, you stood up and cautiously made your way over to the windows. There was a small, darkened silhouette on the other side of the glass and as you drew closer, you realized that it was actually an owl perched on the window sill.