Double Trouble | Draco Malfoy [1]

Chapter 16 ~ Us Against the Whomping Willow

"IT'S THE GRIM!" Ron yelled.

Our eyes widened and we didn't move. But unfortunately, he did. The dog came running after us, or I thought he was, but he jumped over us and ran straight after Ron. He pulled him by the leg, heading straight for the Whomping Willow.

"HARRY!" Ron yelled.

"RON!" Harry yelled as the three of us ran after him. Ron was still screaming Harry's name and being dragged by the black dog. Harry dove for Ron's hand, but it was too late. He was already dragged into the hole. We were so into saving Ron that we didn't realize how close we were to the Whomping Willow. And we were very close, which made the tree mad. It swung one of its abnormally large branches at us and we flew into the air and landed onto the ground.

I never thought it was possible to piss off a tree. Even though Harry, Ron, and I did it last year, but that was only one time. And we just did it again. I just loved to piss everyone off, didn't I? Yeah, I was pretty good at that. It was probably the only thing I was good at. I had a good amount of people that would agree with me.

Okay, back to the big, scary tree that was attacking us. Its branches were swinging everywhere like a madman. We had no idea what we were gonna do. Saving Ron was one thing, but getting killed was another. But he was our friend and without him, life would be miserable. So we went for it.

"Come on," Harry said with determination.

"Are you crazy?!" I shouted.

"We have to get Ron!" he told me. "We can do this! Just follow my lead!"

I took a deep breath and nodded. "Fine, but if we get killed..."

"We won't," he assured me. "We're wasting time, so let's go!"

All three of us made a run for it and saw a branch coming right at us. We ran over to the right. We ran another few feet and then another branch was coming at us. Harry and I dove to the ground on the left and Hermione dove to the right. But when we got back up on our feet, another branch was heading our way. Hermione and I ducked, but Harry wasn't quick enough and he was flung into the air and landed on the ground. But of course, his glasses fell off and he was completely blind without them.

Now we really pissed this thing off. Hermione and I both looked and saw another branch coming up. We jumped over it, but we were too slow for the next one. Instead of flying into the air, we climbed onto the branch. I knew the moment we got on that this was a terrible idea. Of course, just about every idea we had was never a good one.

"HARRY, WATCH OUT!" I yelled as the tree flung its branches, almost crushing Harry. I felt relief rushing over me when I saw he was okay, but anxiety was still running high.

The tree started waving its branches like crazy, causing us to cling on for our lives and to scream like two mad people. We almost hit Harry, but he ducked just in time. I almost lost my grip and I was hanging onto the branch. We were about to go past the hole and I knew my chance to enter inside there was now. I let go of the branch and fell in.

But I landed on my stomach, and that hurt like a bitch. I groaned in pain and positioned my hands so I could get up. But then I fell on my stomach again, with someone on top of me. I groaned in pain again.

"Sorry, Max," Harry apologized.

But that's when Hermione came and landed on Harry, who landed on me again. And that hurt even worse.

"Ow!" I yelled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you two," Hermione said.

"Don't worry," Harry replied.

"Don't worry? Harry, I almost died! Twice!" I said.

"Well, are you okay?" he asked me.

"What do you think?" I snapped.

"Get out of the way next time, then," he retorted.

"Maybe next time I'll fall on you and then you'll know how it feels," I told him.

"Okay, enough, you two," Hermione said to us, to which we immediately went quiet after that. She huffed a sigh. "Where do you suppose this goes?"

"I have a hunch. I just hope I'm wrong," Harry replied.

"And what exactly is that hunch?" I asked.

"You'll find out soon enough," he replied.

I started walking up the steps and the other two started following me. We ended up somewhere else since it looked like a house and that was something that would be inside a tree.

"We're in the Shrieking Shack, aren't we?" Hermione questioned.

"Why do I feel like we shouldn't be here?" I spoke up.

"It means there's danger and trouble, which is what we're used to by now," Harry pointed out.

I nodded my head. "Right. Trouble always finds us."

"Exactly. Come on," he whispered to us.

Harry took Hermione's hand and led her up the stairs and I followed them. I heard the sound of Ron's scream coming from upstairs. The three of us started running up the stairs and we finally found Ron, sitting on a chair with an injured foot and Scabbers still in his hand.

"The dog, where is it?" Harry asked him frantically.

"Harry, it's a trap! He's an Animagus!" Ron said fast as he pointed at the door.

We turned around and saw paw prints that led to the door. The door slowly closed by itself and there he was. The man who escaped from Azkaban. The man who betrayed our parents. Our godfather, a murderer.

"No, it can't be," I muttered.

"Hello, Harry and Max," the man greeted us.

It was him. It was Sirius Black.