Chapter 31 (Ava)

 “That lesson was absolutely exhausting, let me tell you.”

I jumped and dropped my books onto the floor in surprise. Draco frowned at me as I bent down to pick them up.

“Did I make you jump, Potter? Sorry about that.”

I shrugged, “Sorry, I was in my own world there.”

That was very far from the truth.

I had hardly seen Draco in the past few days, perhaps as I had been subconsciously avoiding him. I was still kicking myself for mentioning Draco when I’d been talking to Fred and George, and I didn’t want him to see the guilt on my face.

“Anyway, as I was saying, that Potions lesson was pure drabble. Your filthy brother is the new teacher’s pet, and I can’t bear to watch him sucking up to Slughorn like that.”

I started to walk faster, my hands gripping tighter around my books in anger.

“Have you forgotten who you’re speaking to?”

Draco shook his head,

“No! I called him your brother, didn’t I?”

I laughed coldly,

“No, you called him my ‘filthy’ brother, and then you started to call him a teacher’s pet.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

I swung around to face him,

“A lot! God, sometimes I actually think that you start to change- and then you turn right back into the Draco Malfoy I met on my first day at Hogwarts. I wonder why I even bother.”

“Arguing again?” Pansy’s sharp voice sounded from beside me.

Before I could open my mouth with a smart retort, she sneered,

“You know, when we don’t see you for a few days, Potter, I start to think that we’ve finally managed to shake you off. But no, you come right back to us when you feel like it.”

I stepped back,

“Really? You think that I come back to you? I’m not even friends with you. The only person I go back to is Draco. You’re just part of the package, which is really unfortunate for me.”

Pansy looked surprised at my outburst, and I smiled before turning away from her and walking down the corridor. I heard Draco mutter,

“Wait, Potter.”

I didn’t stop and wait though. I carried on walking, feeling pleased with myself.

I walked right through the Slytherin common room, just in case Pansy caught up with me. I went straight to the dormitory and bumped into Sophia on opening the door. She looked at me for a moment before muttering,

“There’s a random owl hanging around by the window in our dormitory. It kept biting me when I tried to get its letter so be careful.”

I nodded and closed the door behind me. The room was silent.

A black owl was sitting on the windowsill with a letter in its beak. It caught sight of me and dropped the letter on the floor. I walked towards it slowly, keeping Sophia’s advice in mind. Surprisingly, the owl didn’t make a move to bite me. It just watched.

I bent down to pick up the letter, and the owl squawked loudly. I laughed, realising what it wanted, and reached into my trunk for Snowstorm’s treats. I held my hand out to the owl and it gobbled up the treat in seconds. It looked at me again expectantly but I ignored it.

I picked the letter up from the floor, and read my name on the front of the envelope.

A spark of recognition flashed through my mind when I saw the handwriting. How did I recognise the handwriting?

Slowly, I opened the envelope and pulled the letter out.

Dear Ava,

I realise we may not have been much help when you came to see us a few days ago. I hope that you expected that, because it was a lot to take in.

We hadn’t seen you in a year, and then you threw all of this information at us- shocking information that we were so surprised to hear. I can only imagine what you’ve been through over this past year- and you’ve been alone for the whole time.

George and I have been discussing ways in which you can help yourself. We came up with an idea (which you know we are full of because we are brilliant).

Harry is eventually going to find out what your mission is, and if you’ve been avoiding him all year, he’s going to wonder if he ever knew you at all. However, if you start to spend more time with him, then perhaps when he finds out about the mission, he will know that you don’t actually want to do it. He will trust you. And that is exactly what you need from him.

We genuinely hope that this idea can help you, because you need all of the help you can get. You’re still a newbie in my eyes, Ava.

Plus we both highly suggest that you spend less time with Malfoy, as he is a snivelling git and needs to be hexed with a Bat-Bogey hex. If you could do that and tell us the results that would make my day.

Fred

I bit my lip and re-read the letter, trying to hold back the tears that were filling my eyes.

Fred had actually taken the time to sit down and write the letter. He and George had come up with a plan to help me.

They still cared about me.

One thing that was striking me still was the handwriting. Where had I seen it before so recently?

All of a sudden, I gasped and reached under my bed to retrieve a note I had received earlier on in the year.

Dear Ava,

Merry Christmas! You better use every single one of these pranks on your Slytherin pals. They all deserve it. Of course, if Umbridge still taught at Hogwarts I would tell you to use them all on her. Alas, she has left.

Enjoy your Christmas.

I compared the handwriting and could no longer stop the tears spilling over onto my cheeks.

The handwriting was the same. That bundle of pranks I had received as a Christmas present had been from Fred and George. They’d remembered to give me a gift. They’d thought about me.

I pulled my quill and parchment out from underneath my pillow and started to write out a reply.

Dear Fred (and George),

You and your brilliant ideas! I shall give it a go- thank you. I shall also see what I can do about the Bat-Bogey hex.

Ava

P.S. Even though this is slightly delayed, thank you for my Christmas present

I rolled the letter up and passed it to the black owl along with another treat. It devoured the treat silently before taking the letter. I nodded,

“Take this back to Fred.”

The owl seemed to nod its head slightly before turning away and flying out of the window.

The moment the owl was no more than a tiny spot in the sky, I was on my way out of the common room.

My footsteps seemed to echo around the corridor, and I tucked my hair behind my ear nervously. I didn’t need to be nervous, but I was.

“Ava!” A voice called from further down the corridor, “What happened to the owl?”

I looked up at Sophia and shrugged,

“I don’t know, it kept biting me and then it left. Maybe it came to the wrong window.”

She raised an eyebrow,

“Strange. I thought perhaps it had been for you.”

I shook my head as we entered the Great Hall for dinner,

“Nope.”

“Hey, where are you going?” Sophia frowned.

I ignored her question as I made my way over to the Gryffindor table. I spotted Harry, Hermione and Ron sitting together towards the middle of the table.

I heard a shout of protest from the Slytherin table as someone realised where I was going. I just carried on walking, a small smile on my face.

Hermione was the first to spot me.

“Ava! What’s going on?”

I bit my lip,

“Mind if I sit with you?”

She looked surprised, but only for a moment before she smiled and offered the space beside her,

“Of course!”

I swung my legs over the bench and sat down.

The Great Hall seemed to go silent for a very long second before coversations started up as quickly as they had finished.

“Is this even allowed?” I questioned.

Harry shrugged,

“There isn’t a rule that says you’re not supposed to.”

“Why did you suddenly decide to, anyway?” Hermione frowned.

I glanced down at my plate,

“Sick of the Slytherins, you know.”

Ron finished his mouthful of food and shook his head,

“I don’t know how you managed it, Ava. You’ve stayed with the Slytherins for this long- it must have been bloody tricky.”

A smile tugged at the corner of my lips,

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it.”

“Ava?” A familiar voice I hadn’t heard in so long spoke from behind me.

I turned around to look at a girl with long ginger hair and soft brown eyes. A girl that- I hadn’t realised until now- I had missed dearly.

“Ginny!” I grinned, “I thought I would sit with you guys today, get away from the Slytherins for the evening.”

She squeezed in beside me, a small smile on her face.

Hermione glanced up at the teachers’ table, “Snape was in a foul mood today.”

Harry smiled,

“Have you been feeling the wrath of Snape over this past week, Ava?”

I laughed- a genuine laugh- despite the fact that I could see Draco staring at me from the Slytherin table out of the corner of my eye.

I couldn’t tell what the expression on his face was- hurt, betrayal, hatred?

Whatever the expression was, it flashed across my face too when a moment later Pansy leant up and brushed her lips against his ear, whispering something to him which made him smile and twine his fingers with hers.