𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 (𝖽𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖿𝗈𝗒 𝗑 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋)

chapter thirty-seven

The rest of the year passed in some sort of weird blur, the same days repeating over and over again with only minor changes.

Draco, Star, and I were as close as ever, although they had begun to go to extra Defense Against the Dark Arts classes more often than not. At first, I brushed off the lessons, thinking that they just wanted a bit of extra help from Snape, but then I noticed that both of them were passing the class with O's (for Outstanding).

My trust in them wasn't wavering in the slightest, but small thoughts popped up every now and then. Lately, Draco had been acting strange, as if he was hiding something much larger than anyone could ever expect. He wouldn't talk about it, though. Star just seemed irritated most of the time now, barely even stopping to chat with me outside of the Great Hall or in class.

Something was definitely off with my friends, but I couldn't place it. Of course, I didn't doubt for a second that it had something to do with Lord Voldemort, but I couldn't figure out what was going on.

On the other side of things, Harry was sure that Draco and Star were Death Eaters, and even though I knew that he was right, I wouldn't admit it, or even hint about it. Harry was constantly attempting to follow Draco around to see what was going on, and it got to the point where I had to start distracting him to let Draco do what he needed to do. Neither Star nor Draco had asked me to help out with my brother, but I didn't care.

Eventually, the day came where I failed to stop my brother from finding Draco. It was the middle of May. Rain was pouring outside and most of the students were holed up in their respective common rooms, since it was a Saturday.

I walked into the Great Hall alone, unsure of where to go. Draco and Star had disappeared before I woke up, presumably to work on something with Snape. It was now midday and I still hadn't seen either of my Slytherin friends.

Harry approached me as I moved to sit down.

"There's something cool that I want to show you," he said, pulling a book out of his bag. "I'm in Advanced Potions and I got this weird book from the shelf. It has a bunch of notes and extra spells in it, and I've been trying some of them out. I tested one on Ron this morning and it was apparently a spell that Dad had used against Snape in school," Harry explained, chuckling. "Anyway, there's this one spell that I want to try, but I'm not sure what it does."

"Interesting," I said. "Do you want me to help you try it?"

"Yeah, actually. Could you?"

"Sure."

Harry and I were still standing near the entrance to the Great Hall, so we walked towards the tables. I followed him to the Gryffindor table, even though I had no intention of sitting there.

"Katie!" Harry exclaimed right before he sat down.

I turned to look at who he was talking about and saw the Gryffindor who had been cursed by the necklace. She was finally back and healthy.

We walked up to her to talk to her, but she spoke before we could say anything.

"Listen, Harry, I know you're going to ask this, but I don't know who cursed me. I'm sorry," she said.

"It's alright," Harry said. "I'm glad you're feeling better." He turned around and began walking out of the Great Hall.

Suddenly, he stopped, and I nearly ran into him. I looked to see what had caused Harry to pause, and then I noticed that I was face-to-face with Draco, who was staring at Katie. His eyes were showing his conflicting emotions, and he ran out of the Great Hall before he even saw me.

"He's probably up to something," Harry said excitedly. "Let's follow him!"

"Harry, I don't think that's a good idea--"