A/N-

Sorry, you may have noticed I accidentally posted this chapter on In His Shadow! I deleted it and I didn't have enough time until now to post it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! :)

Chapter 8 (Ava)

Just as I stood up to leave my lesson with Professor Slughorn, he cleared his throat,

“Ah, Miss. Potter, I forgot to ask you, and I have been meaning to ask you for quite a while. Would you like to attend my Christmas party? I have a little club of just a few students who I like to talk to every so often. We have meals together quite regularly, but if you come to the Christmas party, that will be the best chance for you to get to know everyone. Of course, you already know Harry though.”

I smiled nervously at him,

“Thank you, Professor. That’s very kind of you. I should be able to go, if I keep all of my homework under control.”

He nodded and told me he’d see me at the next lesson.

When I sat down in the Great Hall, I immediately told Draco about Slughorn’s invite to the party.

He looked a bit jealous as he muttered,

“I never got invited to his little club.”

Blaise shook his head,

“I find it hard to believe he’s invited a Potter. Someone with pureblood status would have been much better.”

Draco looked at him,

“In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with Slughorn inviting Ava.”

I smiled at him,

“Thank you Draco. Blaise, maybe if you start to act a little bit nicer, you’ll actually get invited to things. Being bitter about the world gets you absolutely nowhere in life.”

He glared at me and started talking to Crabbe and Goyle instead.

Pansy cleared her throat,

“Who are you going to ask to go with you, Ava?”

I looked up at her in surprise,

“Uh, I don’t know.”

She raised an eyebrow and smiled smugly at me,

“You might want to think about who you’re asking.”

I realised she wanted to know if I was asking Draco or not. I thought about that for a moment. Draco was really the only person I would ask to the party. He was the only other person at Hogwarts I actually liked and spent time with.

Everyone was starting to stand up, and I realised dinner was over. I followed Draco to the Slytherin common room and we sat down by the fire. Draco put a book down on the table, and I assumed it was one he’d picked up from the library earlier on. Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle squeezed onto the sofas with us.

Normally, Draco was the one who kept the conversations going when we were sitting together. However, this time, he was unusually quiet. After about ten minutes, Crabbe and Goyle got up to go to bed.

Blaise turned to Pansy,

“I think I’ve nearly mastered the non-verbal spells.”

I snorted,

“Hardly! Do you think I can’t hear you whispering the spell?”

He shot me a dirty look,

“No need to act all high-and-mighty just because you can do it. There are probably plenty of other things you can’t do.”

Pansy nodded,

“That’s what I said! She doesn’t have enough experience yet. I bet she’s only cast about five or six spells in her life.”

I raised my hand,

“Excuse me- I am right here. Just thought I’d make that clear. Right here.”

“Has she even learnt about the important things? I bet she’s still on the basics.”

I cleared my throat,

“Still here.”

Blaise finally turned to me,

“Ava, have you been told about the three Unforgivable Curses?”

My thoughts flickered to the summer before last when Fred and George had taught me plenty of things about the wizarding world. The Unforgivable Curses had been part of that.

I leant forwards,

“Yes, Blaise, I have. I’m fully aware of them.”

He raised an eyebrow,

“Are you sure?”

I gulped,

“I know that one of them is the Killing Curse…”

I trailed off. I’d seen that firsthand. The flash of green light filled my mind, and I closed my eyes for a moment.

Blaise stood up,

“I’m probably going to go to bed now. See you guys in the morning.”

He nodded at Pansy and Draco, completely ignoring me, before he made his way to his dormitory.

Pansy moved to sit on the other side of Draco. She rubbed a hand up and down his arm,

“You’re unusually quiet this evening, Draco. What’s the matter?”

He didn’t look at her, just stared at the table,

“I just need to study, that’s all.”

She raised her eyebrows,

“Are you sure it’s not something more than that?”

He sighed,

“I’m fine, Pansy.”

She stood up, looking slightly offended. Silently, she walked off. I pushed myself up off the sofa,

“I think I might go to bed as well.”

I went to the dormitory and got changed into my pyjamas. I climbed into bed and pulled the covers up around me. I felt comfortable, but I couldn’t get my eyes closed for more than a couple of minutes. I was thinking about Harry.

From his point of view, just before the summer holidays, I’d completely disappeared off of the face of the earth. After Sirius had died, I hadn’t made any effort to make contact with Harry, and he hadn’t had a clue where I was.

Then, he’d finally seen me back at Hogwarts, but the moment I’d seen him I ran off.

How was I being the big sister I’d desperately wanted to be when I first met Harry? I’d completely left him alone when he’d needed me most.

What kind of sister did that?