What He Knew

Chapter 19

Ryan didn't look like she believed us as she picked at her dinner.

"Where's your tie, Rose" Blaise asked, raising his eyebrows at me, I looked down and realised with annoyance that I'd left it on the floor upstairs.

"Oh, it was annoying me."

Blaise gave me a disbelieving look but said nothing else as we ate our dinner. I was grabbing the pumpkin juice and as I did I noticed an empty seat at the top table. Dumbledore was no longer occupying his usual middle seat. I elbowed Draco motioning to the seat but his face was blank. Did he know Dumbledore wasn't here? Was this why it had to happen tonight? But how could he have known, Dumbledore was hardly going around giving Draco Malfoy his itinerary.

The feast drew to a close, Draco having said nothing for the whole meal and my mind working overtime to figure out how Draco had simply overlooked telling me this information he knew.

"Listen," Draco said, speaking his first words of the night, "I need you guys to stay in the dorm tonight, don't go sneaking around."

Blaise, Pansy and Ryan all exchanged confused looks.

"Why, Draco?" Pansy asked, her face forming a confused gaze.

"Just promise me, all of you," he snapped.

I joined them in nodding so not to give away our plans. While the others were climbing off the benches Draco leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"We're going to go back to the dorms and act like everything is normal. Meet me at 11:30 in the common room." I nodded and detached myself from him, heading for the dungeons.

That night I spent anxiously pretending to do homework while Pansy tried to conspire with me about why Draco wanted us to stay in our dorms tonight.

"For the third time Pansy, I. Don't. Know." I hissed as she made me smudge half of the nonsense I'd written. Pansy looked hurt but returned to her potions homework without another word.

"Oh, leave her alone, Fiadh," snapped an Irish voice from across the room.

I looked up at Ryan to see her face matching with her fiery hair. I rose from my seat slowly looking her dead in the eye.

"What the fuck is your problem, Casey?" I said cooly.

"You. You're the problem, Rose "

"And why's that? Because I refuse to hang out with Potter and that mudblood?" I spat. Shocking myself with my own words. The common room buzz of chatter had died down, a couple of students let out low whistles.

"What did you just say?" Ryan said, her voice dangerously low, her hand on her wand. I had forgotten that Ryan was also muggle born. Fuck.

"I didn't mean-" I said, backtracking now. I knew I looked stupid but those words would never have come out of my mouth in a usual conversation.

"Oh, sure you didn't, just like how you didn't mean to ditch me for Draco because you're too good to be friends with a mudblood?"

My heart sank. That's probably exactly what it looked like. Was she wrong? After all I was helping Draco sneak death eaters into the school, people who wanted wizards like Ryan and Hermione dead. What kind of person did that make me? I tried to comfort myself, tried to reason away my actions but there was no reasoning. I felt bad for Draco, sure, but why had I had to get myself involved in his mission?

I stared at Ryan in silence, having no idea how to respond to her. Before I could put together words she had turned and stormed up to the dorms, flicking her wand at me as she left. I dodged the flash of blue but it hit a sheep skull behind me, shattering it to pieces.

I sunk back into the sofa. The common room was still silently staring at me.

"What the hell are you all staring at?" I snapped and half of them got up and went to their dorms. It wasn't long until the rest followed suit.

Draco and I were the only ones there by 11.

"Draco... we don't have to do this... if Dumbledore doesn't die he could protect you. We could be on the right side of this."

Draco shook his head, "Fiadh, if I don't do this he won't just kill me. He'll kill my family...my friends...You don't need to come though, you should stay here, out of the way."

"Draco, I'm not going to leave you alone, don't you get it? That's the only reason I'm helping you. This isn't you but... you have no choice." I said all this staring into the fire.

"But you have a choice-"

I stopped him, "No, Draco, not anymore. I'm not going to leave you alone."

I looked up and he nodded, "Ok, we should go then."