Darker Shadows (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Chapter 11- Harry's Evidence (Ava)

Chapter 11 (Ava)

“Malfoy knows about this necklace.”

I looked up at Harry sharply. How did he know about that? He carried on talking as we entered the Hogwarts grounds.

“It was in a case at Borgin and Burkes four years ago, I saw him having a good look at it while I was hiding from him and his dad. This is what he was buying that day when we followed him! He remembered it and went back for it!”

I shifted uncomfortable and stayed silent. Ron muttered,

“I- I dunno, Harry. Loads of people go to Borgin and Burkes… and didn’t that girl say Katie got it in the girls’ bathroom?”

I nodded in agreement,

“She came out of the bathroom holding it. That was when she was under the Imperius curse.”

Harry thought about it for a moment,

“She said she came back from the bathroom with it, she didn’t necessarily get it in the bathroom itself-”

Ron interrupted him,

“McGonagall!”

Harry and I both looked up to see Professor McGonagall rushing down the stone steps towards us.

“Hagrid says you five saw what happened to Katie Bell- upstairs to my office at once, please! What’s that you’re holding, Potter?”

Harry gulped,

“It’s the thing she touched.”

McGonagall gasped,

“Good Lord.”

She reached out to take it and I cleared my throat,

“Be careful.”

She gave the necklace to Filch and we followed her to her office. Leanne was still crying her eyes out and when we entered the office I stepped towards her and put my arm around her. I whispered,

“Sorry.”

Professor McGonagall stood in front of us,

“Well? What happened?”

Leanne took a deep breath and told the story in between loud sobs. When she got to the part about the parcel tearing open, she started to cry even harder than before.

McGonagall sighed,

“All right, go up to the hospital wing, please, Leanne, and get Madam Pomfrey to give you something for shock.”

I squeezed her shoulders before letting her go. When the door closed behind us, Professor McGonagall had more questions,

“What happened when Katie touched the necklace?”

I closed my eyes and took a shaky breath. Harry answered,

“She rose up in the air, and then began to scream, and collapsed. Professor, can I see Dumbledore, please?”

As Professor McGonagall answered, I tried to control my breathing. I felt so guilty for letting Katie take the necklace, I should have noticed before. Why hadn’t I put the pieces together? I was such an idiot.

Harry’s next words caught my attention,

“I think Draco Malfoy gave Katie that necklace, Professor.”

I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand to try and cover it up. It didn’t work- Hermione stepped towards me and carefully put an arm around me. I put my head on her shoulder. I’d been so stupid. Katie was cursed and it was my fault for not paying attention.

Harry started to tell the story of how he’d seen Draco at Borgin and Burkes. When he finished, Professor McGonagall frowned,

“Malfoy took something to Borgin and Burkes for repair?”

Harry shook his head,

“No, Professor, he just wanted Borgin to tell him how to mend something, he didn’t have it with him. But that’s not the point, the thing is that he bought something at the same time and I think it was that necklace-”

“You saw Malfoy leaving the shop with a similar package?”

It was so easy for me to just say there and then that I had seen Draco holding that package earlier that day, but I said nothing.

Harry looked desperate,

“No, Professor, he told Borgin to keep it in the shop for him.”

Hermione interrupted,

“But, Harry, Borgin asked him if he wanted to take it with him, and Malfoy said ‘no’-”

“Because he didn’t want to touch it, obviously!”

Hermione shook her head,

“What he actually said was, ‘How would I look carrying that down the street?’”

Ron mumbled,

“Well, he would look a bit of a prat carrying a necklace.”

My lips twitched into a smile and I looked down at the floor to hide it. After a moment I sighed,

“It sounds like whatever Draco was looking at in Borgin and Burkes wasn’t the necklace.”

Hermione nodded in agreement,

“I think whatever he reserved at Borgin and Burkes was noisy and bulky; something he knew would draw attention to him if he carried it down the street- and in any case, I asked Borgin about the necklace, don’t you remember? When I went in to try and find out what Malfoy had asked him to keep, I saw it there. And Borgin just told me the price, he didn’t say it was already sold or anything-”

“Well, you were being really obvious, he realised what you were up to within about five seconds, of course he wasn’t going to tell you- anyway, Malfoy could’ve sent off for it since-”

I shifted uncomfortably and kept my gaze on the floor.

Professor McGonagall cut Harry off and told him not to blame Draco just because he’d been to the shop it had been sold in.

Harry tried to interrupt her, but she stood up a little bit straighter as she said,

“Mr Malfoy was not in Hogsmeade today.”

Harry stared at her,

“How do you know, Professor?”

“Because he was doing detention with me. He has now failed to complete his Transfiguration homework twice in a row. So, thank you for telling me your suspicions, Potter, but I need to go up to the hospital wing now to check on Katie Bell. Good day to you all.”

We all filed out of her office silently. Harry, Ron and Hermione started to make their way to the Gryffindor common room. I cleared my throat,

“I need to go to the Slytherin common room. I’ll see you later.”

Harry and Ron nodded silently but Hermione waved,

“Bye, Ava."

I turned around and walked down the empty corridors towards the Slytherin common room. I muttered the password and stepped into the crowded room.

Draco saw me and waved me over to sit with him. I stared at him and my eyes welled up with tears. I turned away from him and walked straight to my dormitory.

I’d known about Draco’s mission, but I hadn’t known he was fully prepared to do it. Because of him, Katie Bell was cursed.

I sat down on my bed and finally let the tears I’d been holding in all day out. I didn’t care if someone walked in and heard me. I didn’t care at all.