Never Alone

[20] 𝓟.𝓸.𝓐

"Brilliant!" Ciara exclaimed "Come on then!" she said before taking off, Hermione scrambling to catch up with her.

Ron looked on, absolutely gobsmacked.

"They're mental" he mumbled before forcing himself to run after them.

A few minutes later, the three had made the trek to the absolute edge of Hogsmeade, far beyond the comfort that the village had to offer.

Looming before them, the land covered by the snow, was a tall, rickety building. Ciara thought it looked beautiful in the mist that the snow provided, while the two friends behind her looked on more apprehensively.

"It's meant to be the most haunted building in Britain" Hermione noted "Did I mention that?"

"Twice" Ron muttered in response.

"Reckon we could get a bit closer?" Ciara said, rhetorically of course as she was already moving towards the path that would march her right up to the shacks front door.

"I...uh, I'm actually fine from here" she heard Ron say.

She had turned to look over her shoulder back at them with a smile, but it instantly faded as she caught wind of three other figures marching out of the forest heading directly for them.

"Oh Merlin..." she groaned as she jogged back over to where she left her friends.

"Well, well. Look who's here!" Draco's voice broke through the previously peaceful silence that the snowfall created "You two shopping for your dream home?"

As the two subjects he had dragged along with him laughed, Ciara quickly placed herself in between her friends and her fellow Slytherin's, meeting Draco head on with a challenging glare.

"Beat it, Malfoy" she ordered through gritted teeth.

Draco's eyes flickered across her face angrily,

"Don't think I was talking to you, snowflake" he snapped, then pushed her shoulder back with his own as he charged the Gryffindor's again.

"Seems a bit grand for you, Weasel-Bee" he continued to taunt "Don't your family all sleep in one room?"

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy" Ron retorted.

Draco scoffed,

"Now that's not very friendly" he said sarcastically "Boys, I think we're going to have to teach Weasel-Bee to respect his superiors."

Ciara's anger flared, jumping forward to throw herself at Draco again, but Hermione harshly pushed her back, guarding her two friends as she laughed harshly.

"Hope you don't mean yourself" she growled.

Draco's gaze darkened as his attention turned to Hermione.

"How dare you speak to me" he spat "You filthy, little mud-"

Before anyone could even react, Draco's face got slammed with a large chunk of snow.

The entire group looked in the direction that the projectile had come from but...no one was there.

"Who did that?" Draco demanded into the empty air.

Ciara, Hermione, and Ron exchanged a glance of confusion when suddenly two more snowballs soared over the ridge, nailing Draco in the chest and sending him stumbling backwards. He yelped, then turned around to his two lackeys,

"Well, don't just stand there!"

The two of them looked around for something to fight, but there was nothing there. All Ciara could do was stand back and watch as the situation delved further into chaos. Crabbe's pants were yanked down by an invisible force, and the boy stumbled around in a panic. The other Slytherin had his hat pulled down in front of his eyes.