Believe in Magic, you Muggle (On Hold)

Chapter 2 : Secrets

3 years later...

“Harry, come on! You’re gonna have to ride a flying car to school again if you don’t hurry up!” I called to Harry who was talking to Mr. Weasley. 

“Coming!” he called back. I grinned, then went back into the train. A few moments later, Harry was right behind me, and we were looking for a compartment. There were none, except for one at the very end of the train, although this one had one occupant. A man, fast asleep. He was quite shabby looking, as his robes were darned in several places. The five of us; Ron, Harry, Hermione, Alice, and I, slipped into the compartment silently, trying not to wake the man up. We took the seats farthest from him as we settled down. 

"Who do you reckon he is? A new professor or something?" Alice asked curiously. I looked for a name tag on his luggage. 

"Remus Lupin..." I read. 

"Sweet, a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Ron said excitedly. Hermione sighed, like she was remembering our old professor, Professor Lockhart, who unfortunately had a Memory Charm backfire on himself and is now currently at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.  

“Um, I need to tell you guys something...” Harry said softly. 

“Well, go on then, mate!” Ron said eagerly. Harry hesitated, and glanced over at Alice. Harry’d taken a bit of a dislike in Alice since last year when she was dating Justin Finch-Fletchley and believed that Harry was the heir of Slytherin and petrifying everyone like rumored. Alice looked at Harry and was taken aback. 

“Fine... I’ll stay out of your conversations...” she said, obviously hurt. I felt sorry for her that I sacrificed in knowing a secret. 

“I’ll go with you, Alice!” Alice turned around and gave me a sad small smile. 

As soon as we were outside, we started walking down the isle. “Thanks Alex... You just gave up listening to an important secret. You know that right?” she asked me, worried that I was regretting this. 

“I know, Alice. Calm down. You’re my friend, I didn’t want you to be alone,” I said with a smile. She smiled back. 

“Friend?” she asked with a smirk. 

“Best. Friends. I’m sorry ma’am.” I giggled. 

Then Alice looked at me seriously. “I can’t believe Harry doesn’t trust me! I mean, I said I was sorry, didn’t I?” she said in disbelief. Although, in all honesty, I didn’t blame Harry for disliking her or not trusting her. I wouldn’t like it if someone I considered one of my closest friends betrayed me in a way that they didn’t believe me... “Right, Alex? I think he should forgive me... It was just a tiny misunderstanding!” she exclaimed. ...I didn’t think mistaking someone for Slytherin’s heir wasn’t so much of a TINY misunderstanding. Trust was so important in friendships, I thought. 

“I...” I hesitated. Alice didn’t seem to notice. 

“Anyways, secrets aren’t fun unless they’re shared with everyone!” Alice said with a chuckle. Secrets, secrets, are no fun unless you share with everyone... Not something I believed. The awkward silence was too awkward for me to handle so I suggested we go back to our compartment since they’d probably finished talking already.

We walked back in silence. I slid the door open and sat down next to Harry. I looked at the faces of the three of them. Needless to say, I was really curious of what they’d discussed... But it was my fault for going outside with Alice, so I controlled my curiosity. 

At one o’clock, the smiling, dimpled plump witch with the food trolley arrived near our compartment door. “D’you think we should wake him up?” Ron asked awkwardly, nodding at Professor Lupin. Hermione tried to wake him up, but he didn’t stir. 

“Don’t worry, dear,” the witch said kindly, as she passed out the stack of Cauldron Cakes Harry bought. “If he’s hungry when he wakes, I’ll be up front with the driver.”

“He’s not dead, is he?” Ron asked quietly. 

“No, silly. You can hear him breathing,” I told him with a smile. Harry seemed to sigh of relief. Hermione looked out of the window --it had started to rain-- then looked back down to Crookshanks, and went back to petting him. 

Suddenly, we heard footsteps in the corridor, and our three least favorite people appeared at the door: Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle from the Gryffindor’s least favorite house: Slytherin. Harry and Malfoy had been enemies ever since they first met on their very first train journey to Hogwarts. 

...But. Something was different about Draco. He was taller, cuter, hotter, he’d gotten a lot maturer. Wait. WHAT? What was I saying about Malfoy? Well, I had to admit... He did look kind of hot in his white t-shirt and jeans. Crap... This was our enemy. Or... was it just Harry’s enemy, and not mine?

Perhaps I had been staring too long, because Draco turned and glanced at me. Our eyes locked. His grey eyes sparkled... They were gorgeous... He blushed and looked away. ...? HE BLUSHED? I couldn’t tell anyone about this secret crush. No one would understand... 

“Potty and Weasel. I heard --” Malfoy stopped. He took a step back as he noticed Lupin. 

“New teacher,” Harry said with a grin. “So... What were you saying, Malfoy?” Malfoy hesitated, and with a huff, he went off. My heart sank as I lost sight of him. Was I really developing a crush for Draco Malfoy?