Chapter 2 (Ava)

“Draco, slow down, will you?”

Draco turned to me with a sour look on his face,

“I just want to get good seats on the train.”

I rolled my eyes and carried on pushing my trolley with my belongings in it, constantly apologising to the people in the crowds around me.

Draco finally came to a stop and just stared at the brick wall in between platforms 9 and 10. I reached out to grab onto his sleeve, but he flinched away. I groaned,

“Draco! If you want to get good seats, we need to keep moving!”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me straight towards the wall between the platforms. I squeezed my eyes shut, even though I knew we weren’t going to crash.

The moment we were through, I glared up at Draco,

“Next time, can you tell me when we’re going to run through the wall?”

A small smile played at the corners of his lips,

“You’re scared of running through it, aren’t you? I saw you squeeze your eyes shut.”

I pulled him towards the train,

“I just blinked, that’s all. For a very long time.”

Draco shook his head,

“Oh, shut up Potter.”

I suddenly became conscious of the fact that we were still holding hands. I let go casually, pretending it was to help me get my luggage onto the train.

The platform wasn’t as busy as I’d seen it before. We were quite early, so we managed to find an empty compartment. I sat down next to the window, and Draco sat next to me. I leafed through a book absentmindedly as I chatted to Draco about the upcoming year, and the lessons we were going to have.

After about five minutes, the compartment door slid open, and Pansy Parkinson walked in. I’d hardly spoken to her, but I’d never really liked her.

She sat down on the other side of Draco and smiled,

“Draco! How was your summer?”

He nodded,

“Pleasant enough. What about yours?”

She shrugged,

“It was alright, but you didn’t send a single owl.”

I stared at the pages of my book and muttered,

“I’d say he’s been a little bit occupied.”

Pansy ignored me,

“Draco, last year you seemed to become a bit distant from everyone else. The moment the year started you only really hung out with Zach, Eleanor and Potter’s sister.”

I looked up,

“I’m right here, just in case you didn’t notice. Right here.”

I knew the real reason Draco had spent all of the previous year hanging around with me. He’d been trying to win my trust so he could take me to Voldemort.

I tried to push the thought away. Even though Draco had brought me to Lord Voldemort last year, he was the only person who knew about my mission. He had a mission too, so he knew how I felt. We had to stick together.

Pansy smiled at Draco and leant closer,

“Crabbe, Goyle and Zabini all agree with me. Let’s spend a bit more time together this year, yeah?”

I didn’t even bother to listen to Draco’s reply. I just turned away from them and read my book.

*                    *                    *

The Draco Malfoy I had grown used to over the summer had completely changed within the space of ten minutes. He, Crabbe and Goyle kept making sneery comments and sniggering with each other. Meanwhile, Pansy was watching Draco with a sparkle in her eye. She muttered something to him and he edged closer to her.

I pulled my feet up onto the seat and hugged my knees to me, holding my book just in front of my nose.

Pansy’s voice distracted me as she reached out and stroked Draco’s hair,

“You look so stressed out Draco. Let me relax you a bit.”

She patted her lap and batted her eyelashes at him. Draco sighed, stretched his legs out so his feet were just next to mine, and lay down along the seats so his head was positioned on Pansy’s lap.

I turned a page of my book just as the compartment door slid open and Blaise Zabini walked in. He turned to close the door, but it stopped about three inches before it should have closed. He slammed it repeatedly until it suddenly flew open and pushed Blaise onto Goyle’s lap. Goyle started to shout at Blaise, but my attention was drawn away from them when I noticed a trainer appear above their heads, and then suddenly dart into nothingness. I frowned in confusion. A trainer had been there, and then it had just disappeared. How had that happened?

It appeared no one else had noticed, so I turned my attention back to my book.

Draco sneered something which made me look up.

“Potter, precious Potter, obviously he wanted a look at the Chosen One.”

I looked up at him with a scowl. Blaise raised an eyebrow,

“What’s that, Potter? Suddenly feeling a bit protective over your little Gryffindor brother?”

I stared at him,

“Shut up.”

He ignored me,

“Why don’t you go running back to your brother and save him from all of us scary Slytherins?”

My face grew red and I resisted the urge to punch Blaise there and then. I opened my mouth to say something cutting, but I felt a foot nudge my own. I glanced over at Draco, and he looked at me sternly before sighing,

“That Weasley girl though! What’s so special about her?”

Pansy watched Draco closely as she shrugged,

“A lot of boys like her. Even you think he’s good-looking, don’t you, Blaise, and we all know how hard you are to please!”

Blaise shot Pansy a dirty look,

“I wouldn’t touch a filthy little blood traitor like her whatever she looked like.”

I dumped my book down on the chair and got up, making some excuse as I left. I didn’t want to listen to the Slytherins making rude remarks about Ginny or anyone else. Over the summer, I’d forgotten just how rude they are, just how much they liked to make other people feel bad about themselves.

I stood outside the compartment and sighed. Eleanor had softened up over the year, and then completely abandoned her mother’s plan to become a Death Eater. I couldn’t imagine Pansy or Blaise softening up the slightest bit, and Crabbe and Goyle hardly said anything at all. When they did, they just grunted.

I caught sight of Ginny walking down the train and, before she could notice me, I ducked back into the compartment.

“When the Dark Lord takes over, is he going to care how many OWLs or NEWTs anyone’s got?”

I froze. Why was Draco talking about Lord Voldemort? I had thought we were meant to keep our missions a secret.

Blaise sneered,

“And you think you’ll be able to do something for him? Sixteen years old and not fully qualified yet?”

Draco shrugged,

“I’ve just said, haven’t I? Maybe he doesn’t care if I’m qualified. Maybe the job he wants me to do isn’t something you need to be qualified for.”

Everyone stared at Draco in shock as I muttered,

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about Lord Voldemort on a train when anyone could be listening in.”

Pansy looked up at me in disgust,

“How? The door’s closed?”

I frowned for a moment, remembering the trainer I saw for a brief moment before it disappeared,

“I don’t know. But someone could be listening.”

Draco looked up at me, expressionless,

“I can see Hogwarts. We’d better get our robes on.”

I reached up to get my trunk when I heard a loud gasp come from the other side of the compartment. I glanced up at the luggage rack, just above where the trainer had disappeared and frowned. Draco was looking at it too, but after a moment he shrugged and started to put his robes on.

When the train finally stopped, Crabbe, Goyle and Zabini left the compartment. Pansy waited by the door with her hand held out, but Draco looked up at her,

“You go on. I just want to check something.”

She looked at me for a moment before dropping her hand and walking away. I looked at Draco,

“What on earth was that all about? Draco, I’m pretty sure you’re meant to be keeping all of that-”

He clamped his hand over my mouth and I stopped talking. He let go and looked at me, his eyes wide with worry. He whispered,

“Don’t talk about it. You were right when you said anyone could be listening.”

I nodded,

“Okay. Shall I see you in the Great Hall then?”

He shrugged,

“I should be in there in time.”

I turned to leave, but before I did, I reached out and squeezed Draco’s hand. He offered me the smallest of smiles before I left and closed the compartment door behind me.