Victoria's Pov.
Some would say that young people have it easy.
Their whole lives would lie ahead of them.
They still have so much to look forward to.
For example, graduation.
Also the beginning and end of the training.
When you earn your first money and are no longer dependent on anyone.
When you can afford your first apartment.
When you find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with.
When you bring children into the world and pass on all your experiences to them on their own path through life.
If you're happy and don't want to change your life with anyone in the world, then you've done everything right.
Every day I thought about what my life would be like if I hadn't been born to Bellatrix Lestrange.
If I had grown up in a loving family.
How would that have shaped my life?
It's always these "what if..." questions that nobody has an answer to.
Nobody could tell you anything about your future.
Nobody could describe your life to you if it had happened differently.
Nobody has the power to change anything.
Except yourself.
But even that is not always as easy as it sounds.
When you're born into a family, it's hard to turn away from it.
You are who you are.
I shook my head briefly and blinked a few times.
I hadn't even noticed that I must have stared at the opposite wall for several minutes.
I closed my eyes briefly.
They felt tired and a bit dry.
I figured when I was staring holes in the wall I forgot to blink.
My leg also started to tingle.
I looked under the table and didn't wonder why my leg had gone to sleep.
I had crossed my legs and must have held this position for some time as I still didn't feel part of my leg.
I swiveled my head to the right and spotted Blaise talking to some of the other sixth year Slytherins.
Several weeks, even months ago, Draco and Blaise's friendship slowly began to unravel.
He always wanted to know what we were doing all the time when we weren't there.
He'd asked Draco about it many times, but Draco always tried to brush him off or change the subject.
The arguments between the two could often be heard throughout Hogwarts on their heyday.
The walls have ears, the teachers always said.
I thought this was nonsense.
Unless you mean the talking and moving paintings.
Zabini also tried to talk to me several times.
But I couldn't tell about it any more than Draco.
I tried to keep my answers short, to the point, and to the point.
Little satisfied with that, Blaise chose to avoid and ignore us.
I think that was the best solution to this problem.
Especially since Draco and I most likely won't be staying here until the end of school.
I looked away from him and could make out a shock of peroxide blonde hair at the entrance to the great hall.
Draco gestured for me to follow him and after a few seconds he stuck his head out of the hall again.
I had no idea what he was up to.
I finally got up and aimed at the great double doors of the hall.
I felt Blaise's piercing gaze on the back of my neck.
However, tried to ignore him and increased my pace.
When I stepped out of the hall, the aisle in front of me was empty.
I couldn't see Draco anywhere until I was suddenly yanked into another hallway.
And could make out young Malfoy in front of me.
"What's this about?" I asked, looking confused.
"We need to take another look at the vanishing cabinet," Draco replied shortly, leading the way.
"Why? It doesn't work anyway," I didn't understand what he was getting at.
The cabinet was completely gone.
I tried to keep up with Draco and caught up a bit.
"If it doesn't work, we'll be dead before Dumbledore is," the Ice Prince sputtered dead serious, but didn't bother to slow his pace.
He was right, if we failed to get the Death Eaters into Hogwarts, that would be our death sentence.
As Draco turned a corner, he stopped abruptly and pulled me behind an alcove.
I didn't understand and therefore peeked around the corner.
When I spotted Potter and Ginny Weasley, who were just disappearing into the Room of Requirement, I pulled my head back and then stepped out of our hiding place.
"What are they doing in there?" I threw up angrily, stepping towards the cool stone wall.
Draco didn't answer as a questioning expression graced his face as well.
He just shrugged and stepped next to me.
I paced up and down the wall three times and waited for the familiar wooden door to form.
I opened it carefully and quietly and tried to make as little noise as possible.
I entered the room and immediately sucked in the stuffy air.
Beads of sweat immediately formed on my forehead.
It was indescribably hot in the room.
I gently pulled Draco behind a mountain of books and walked down the small path of pushed away clutter.
I kept my eyes on the ground and tried not to trip over anything.
Behind me, Draco had less success as he repeatedly fell over books or boxes lying on the floor with his two left legs.
At least he wasn't making any noise too loud for Potter or Ginny Weasley to hear us.
I made my way further and followed the two from a safe distance.
They stopped in a small free space, only a few meters away from the vanishing cabinet.
I felt like slapping myself at that moment, realizing that neither Draco nor I had covered the cabinet.
But Potter and his little friend didn't seem to have noticed yet.
They started to speak, but I couldn't understand a single word.
They were too far away and all the junk and the high ceiling of the room muffled the spoken words.
I could see little Weasley taking a book from Potter's hand and disappearing.
A few minutes later, she reappeared in front of him, but this time without the book.
She must have hidden it somewhere, but I didn't know why.
I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Draco was still behind me.
When I looked ahead again, I saw Potter and Ginny Weasley kissing.
I grimaced in disgust and looked away.
I could read a similar reaction on Draco's face.
He seemed resentful of that, too.
Suddenly there was a clatter and I realized that young Malfoy had bumped into a box full of plates and cutlery.
Startled, I looked at the two lovebirds and hoped they hadn't noticed us.
They broke apart and turned their attention to the sound.
However, they could not make out where it came from and finally decided to make their way back.
As little Weasley turned around, she banged her shoulder against the vanishing cabinet, opening the door.
I could make out excited chirping and flapping of wings as I watched the little blue bird fly out of the cabinet.
I couldn't believe my eyes and turned to Draco.
"You know what that means..."