How To Annoy A Gryffindor ; harry potter

Step 42: Sit Back and 'Relax'

As Ember thought, Harry Potter was not on the train. No matter how much she wanted him to be there... Not to get captured, but so that she could speak to him. Hear his voice just one last time before they saw each other on the other side of the war.

"You're sulking again," Cullen commented as he and Ember walked side by side through the Entrance Hall.

Entering the campus was less show-stopping and spectacular as usual. All Ember could feel was death and gloom. Not at all any happiness and Dumbledore used to always say that happiness could always be found but in this time Ember knew it was impossible. Two Death Eaters, Amycus and Alecto Carrow, made sure that they searched every single student as thoroughly as the possibly could. The first-years didn't ride in boats, the thestrals were rioting and that meant the whole school spent hours walking in the dark until they finally reached the castle.

Ember groaned, "My legs hurt, we've been walking for hours and only just got here!"

"I think it's more than that. You're actually sad, not just in pain..." replied Cullen, though he was looking at Ember with an amused expression.

"You're the one panting, I think you're in more pain than I am," pointed out Ember, glaring at him.

"I'm panting because Daphne Greengrass is right in front of us," Cullen said angrily. "Urqhart's not at Hogwarts anymore which means that I finally have a shot!"

"You'll never have a shot with Daphne, sorry. Maybe Pansy? At least she's respectable."

Cullen scowled, "Enough! I want to know why you're pouting and before you were literally hanging your head and stomping. Merlin, you're so dramatic... But why? Oh, is it about your father? Potty Pot?"

"Potty Pot?" Ember said, scrunching up her face in disgust. "You mean Harry Potter? Why the hell did you give him the name of a toilet?"

Cullen shrugged, looking ahead where Billie was blabbing to Blaise about something. Most likely Quidditch. Draco was walking quietly, Crabbe and Goyle by his side. He looked scared, but only Ember or Cullen would be able to notice that. Otherwise, he looked completely normal. "I thought it was funny... So it is about Potter? You love him, don't you?"

"Perhaps," Ember said vaguely. "But even if that's true, it would be past tense. I can't afford to love at the moment. I don't want to hurt any more than I already have."

"You're such a Gryffindor,"

"You're such a Hufflepuff," retorted Ember.

Cullen's jaw dropped and he whispered while a group of Hufflepuff's walked passed, "That's the worst insult possible."

Ember laughed, though it was slightly forced. She knew that he was only trying to make her feel better in a situation like this. As is on queue, the two of them both glanced at Draco. He didn't look happy as Crabbe and Goyle grunted to each other as if they were speaking a different language.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" asked Cullen, clearly alarmed that he wasn't bossing the two boys around.

Ember shook her head, "I have no idea. Do you think any of us will be okay? The whole world's going to change for us, everything will be different."

The Great Hall looked so much different than usual. The starry night sky that was usually enchanted on the ceiling had been replaced with a dark sky, fog and a gleaming green Dark Mark. Ember cringed at the sight of it. Only Slytherin flags hung around the Hall, even over the other house tables. Everyone blanked as they stared at the man standing at the Headmasters seat, the one Dumbledore always sat. It was Severus Snape.