only me, only you

Chapter 8

Days had passed since Voldemort had sent the invitation to the vampires to which a reply came within a matter of hours accepting the invite, the only request Malakar had was that Harriet attend any and all meetings before the ball

Voldemort was clearly displeased by this and had made it very clear to Dumbledore that Harriet was to remain at Voldemorts side at all times and if not possible then she was to remain with Dumbledore, Harriet had rolled her eyes frequently throughout the conversation, complaining that she was not a child who needed a babysitter but of course the dark Lord had only shushed her and said it was this or nothing so she agreed

The first meeting was due in two days time at Malfoy manner of all places, she questioned this and was told it was simply the easiest place as it had its own very powerful wards and plenty of property for all groups to fit

In attendance would be the order, death eaters, some ministry officers, Malakar and a chosen few of his covern, thankfully she'd been granted permission to bring Ron and Hermione with her for support. so as she sat herself in the hall beside them she nervously asked if they'd be ok with coming along

"Of course we'll come Harriet, we'd never let you walk into all that without us" Hermione smiled and took a sip from her cup and both girls moved their eyes to Ron who was sat across from them

Ron looked a lot more anxious then Hermione did "I mean it sounds bloody scary but yeah Hermione's right, you aren't going into that alone" she smiled at them both and finally sighed in relief

Tell them whispered the voice in her head, she drew her bottom lip between her teeth and nawed on it as she bounced back and forth on the best way to tell her friends what had been happening between herself and the dark Lord, knowing it would be impossible to hide now that the dark Lord had made his intentions very clear and wasn't exactly subtle about it, she felt utterly terrified of their reactions and despite how respectful they'd been on not prying she knew they were desperate to know

She glanced at them both and watched them laugh at something Seamus had said about his lastest assignment, she couldn't bare the thought of them hating her but she also couldn't bare to keep this to herself anymore

She straightened her spine "Hey Ron, Hermione do you guys want to come for a walk with me?" They both looked at her with a frown but read her body language clearly, being friends for as long as they had they had all learned every tell that said when one of them was nervous or uncomfortable

"Yeah sounds good" Ron said and Hermione nodded before they all rose and walked side by side out of the hall, silence hung around them as they walked towards the boat house steps, cold air hit her face and knocked the breathe out of her despite how warm her robes were, she glanced to her friends and noticed they'd huddled in on themselves too

The walk was long enough that it gave her enough time to try and settle her nerves, trying to convince herself this was the right thing to do because they deserved the truth

When they finally arrived they all leant over the large stone banister at the top of the large staircase that led down to the boat house below, the view from here was always stunning.

The lake looked completely calm from up here but she knew from experience that beneath the surface it was rife with life she remembered how endless its depths had seemed, tall mountains encased the lake on the other side like silent guardians protecting Hogwarts from prying eyes

Her breath caught when a large tentacle broke the surface of the water and lazily splashed as it sunned itself not at all bothered by the bitter chill.

Ron and Hermione leant further over the edge of the staircase alongside her and they watched in silence as the giant squid continued to stretch and splash