Snake Bites

Chapter 32: The Truth

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We arrive at Honeydukes and we take the invisibility cloak off. Harry spots Ron and Hermione and hurries off after them, while I go out towards the Shrieking Shack. I spot my famous four group there, talking. I decided to sneak up on them. I run around behind Theo and when I'm right behind him, I cover his eyes with my hands. He yells and whips around. I remove my hands and start laughing. My friends stare at me. I keep on laughing at them.

"Your faces!" I said, laughing at them.

"How did you get here?" says Theo, asking them. I smile and shrug.

"Let's just say I've got a few tricks up my sleeve." I say, winking at them. Beth laughs.

"Yeah right, come on, tell us!" She says, talking to me. I zipped my lips and threw away the key. I shake my head. The others look slightly disappointed. I cheekily smile at them and reach down, grabbing a handful of snow. I threw it right into Blaise's face and burst out laughing. So do Beth and Theo.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Blaise growls, running towards me. I squeal and run away as he chases after me, not noticing three figures appearing through the trees. He's too fast and grabs my waist. He lifts me up and chucks me over his shoulder. I start kicking and squirming, but he just laughs.

"I've caught the Cosmic!" He says as I laugh.

"Blaise! Let me go!" I yell.

"Certainly, my lady." He says as he drops me on the ground. I landed in the snow.

"Ow! You'll pay for that!" I say as I get up, grabbing him around the ankles, while tackling him to the ground. He screams as I shovel snow down his shirt. Theo and Beth join in, laughing. Then, Theo grabs me and starts shoveling snow down my shirt. I yelp and squirm, trying to get out of his grasp. Right. Well, that's not happening. He grabs me and stands up, but trips on Blaise. I laugh as we slam into the snow. Beth and Blaise are having a vigorous snowball fight, while Theo sits on me, still shoveling snow down my shirt. I'm laughing and screaming at the same time.

"Ow! Theo! It's cold!" I yell as he laughs. I sit up suddenly, slamming him into the ground. He keeps laughing. I evilly smile and shove snow down his shirt instead. Now, it's his turn to scream and laugh. He's practically buried down in the snow, but he then grabs my arm and pulls me down too. I laugh, and shiver as I'm engulfed into the snow. I just realized how close we are. He seems to have realized it as well as he starts caressing my cheek. I smile, but shudder. I'm really cold. He shakes his head and stands up, helping me up too.

"Way to ruin a romantic moment, Mina." He says to me as I laugh at him.

"Actually, it's your fault! You're the one that shoved snow down my shirt in the first place!" I said, pointing it out to him. He laughed and handed me his jacket. I smile and put it on.

"What's going on here?" An unwelcome voice says. I turn around to see Draco. Great.

"Why do you care, Malfoy?" Theo asked him. He stares at him.

"You know perfectly well why, Nott." He spits at Theo, so angrily. Theo coldly laughs at him.

"Oh, yeah? Well, that's never going to happen and you know it!" He says to him. I'm just staring at the two, wondering what is going on.

"Umm, I should probably head back up to the castle." I say, so uncertain. Theo turns to me.

"But you've covered in snow. They'll know that you got out." I smile.

"Not if I can get back into the castle unseen." I say, winking at him.

"Huh?" Theo asks me, but Beth smiles at me.

"Oh! That's how you got out!" She says to me as I smile and nod at her. She laughs. "I should have known!" She shakes her head. All the boys are staring at her.

"Care to share with the rest of the class?" Blaise says, asking me. I sigh.

"Yeah, I'll tell you later." I said to him, honestly. "Or Beth can." I start walking back to the castle, but someone grabs my wrist. I turn around to see Draco and frown at him. What does he want?

"Look, Mina, I just wanted to say—" He begins to say, but Theo cuts him off.

"Get your hands off her, Malfoy!" He growls. Draco looks at me for a second as he then sighs and lets me go. I stare at Theo and Draco. What the heck is going on between them?

"Uhh, bye." I said to them as I walked back to the cellar. Harry seems to have already gone, so I walk up through the passageway by myself and end up in the castle.

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I'm sitting in front of the fire in the common room. It's a really nice fire. It's all green and flickery. I watch it as it moves around, never making the same shape twice. I can't stop thinking about Theo and Draco. What is going on between them?

"Can't sleep?" A voice asks behind me. I don't even turn around. I just know that it's Draco. I nod.

"Just thinking." I say. He sits down next to me, staring into the fire as well. "What about you?" I ask him. He looks at me.

"Just thinking." He says to me as I slightly smile.

"What about?" I say, prompting him to tell me. He shakes his head and stays quiet. I shuffle closer to him. "Come on, you can tell me." I said to him, urgently. He smirks at me and then sighs.

"About Sirius Black." He says. I frown.

"Why?" I say, so confused. Why would Draco of all people be thinking about Black? He sighs again.

"Well, you know, if it was me in your position, I'd want revenge." He says to me as I frown again. He looks at me and sees the confusion on his face. "You do know why he has escaped from Azkaban, don't you?" He asked me. I nod.

"Yeah, to kill me and Harry." I said to him, while he winced.

"Well, yes, but it's more than that." He says to me, being dishonest. I just stare at him, waiting for him to continue. He sighs.

"Black was one of the Dark Lord's closest followers. But he was also friends with your parents. He was your dad's best friend at school, actually. But then, he chose the Dark Lord over your parents. He knew where they were hidden and told him. So, he practically killed them. And then, he murdered a whole street of people with one curse to hide the witnesses. But they still caught him. And now, he's out of Azkaban to finish what he started. To kill all of the Potters." He says to me. He's just being dishonest. I stare at him as this fake information sinks into my brain.

"He betrayed my parents." I said to him, pretending to be mad. He grimly nodded.

"I'm sorry. I figured that if you didn't know, then someone should tell you." He says, so quietly. I just stare at the fire, thinking about it. I know he lied to me, but I know that Pettigrew was the one that betrayed my parents.

"Mina?" Draco asked after a while. That's when I see red. I jump up and run to my dormitory, slamming the door while ignoring his shouts. I lean against the door and start fake crying. No. This isn't right. But why would Draco lie about that? No one would lie about something like that. Not even him. I calm myself down and just breathe. Does Harry know? I'm not sure. I'll tell him in the morning. For now, I need to rest.