Chapter 35
I walked into the Slytherin common room, dragging my trunk behind me. I expected Draco to immediately pick on me as soon as I walked in. He was probably going to shout something rude at me or embarrass me in front of everyone. Not that I cared what stupid Slytherins thought about me.
However, when I walked in, only a few students looked up. Draco was having a conversation with Crabbe and Goyle and didn’t even glance at me.
I took my opportunity and walked quickly to my dormitory, my head down. Luckily, no one else was in the dormitory, so I began to unpack my things from my trunk.
I heard a chirping noise from the window, and Snowstorm flew in. Sirius had promised to send her over, and it appeared he had sent me a note too. I opened it quickly.
Dear Ava,
Have a good term! Don’t forget to write to me. I like to know what’s going on!
Padfoot
I smiled to myself and tucked it under my pillow. Snowstorm chirped again so I rummaged through my trunk and found some pellets to feed her. She wolfed them down pretty quickly before looking at me expectantly. I laughed and shook my head. She would be able to get some other food later.
“Ava?”
I spun around and saw Eleanor standing at the door. She walked towards me,
“Are you alright?”
I nodded,
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
She frowned,
“Well you did randomly disappear without a trace during December, but I’m sure that was absolutely nothing to worry about.”
I ignored her sarcasm,
“Does it matter?”
She sat down on her bed,
“We didn’t have a clue where you’d gone, or why you’d left.”
I sighed,
“There were some… family issues.”
“You could have left a note.”
I looked up at her,
“Eleanor, when have you ever actually cared about me?”
She twisted her long blonde hair around her finger,
“I do care.”
I snorted,
“Well, you certainly have a funny way of showing it.”
She got up, and muttered,
“Next time something happens to you, maybe I’ll decide not to care anymore.”
She stormed out of the room, and I frowned at her. Surely Eleanor had never cared about me in the first place. She was probably only asking questions so she could give answers back to Draco. Then they would all laugh at me.
Or did she actually care?
I laughed at myself. Of course she didn’t care. She was a sour Slytherin girl. She didn’t care about anyone but herself.
* * *
“Is Harry up to something?”
I glanced up at Draco, and took another bite from my piece of toast,
“What on earth are you talking about?”
He sighed,
“Is Harry up to something? He keeps disappearing and muttering things to the mudblood and weasel.”
I ignored his comment on Ron and Hermione,
“He’s probably just nervous about upcoming exams, so he’s talking to his friends to calm down.”
Zach raised an eyebrow like he didn’t believe me, but the subject had been dropped.
When I’d walked into the Great Hall earlier on, Draco had forced me to sit with him.
Eleanor was back to her usual self, sneering about mudbloods and the Weasley’s more than ever. She was acting a bit strange, but I wasn’t sure why.
The bell sounded, and I got up quickly. Zach frowned,
“In a rush?”
Before he could grab onto my wrist and pull me back, I rushed over to the Gryffindor table and took Fred’s hand, pulling him up. He turned around,
“What makes you think you can stop me eating my toast?”
I laughed and pulled him along quickly,
“Maybe I want to talk to you for a bit before my lovely Slytherin housemates run after me.”
He grinned,
“What about? Had Malfoy been interrogating you?”
I shook my head,
“No, not exactly. Eleanor came into my dormitory last night, and asked me why I’d left early. It was weird.”
“It just sounds like Eleanor to me.”
I frowned,
“Not like that. She was acting like she actually cared about me. But I know she doesn’t really. She hates me. All she does is try to upset me by saying rude things. She can’t care about me.”
Fred laughed,
“Eleanor is one of the least caring people I’ve met. All she wants is good grades and for people to be afraid of her. Don’t tell her what happened to Dad. Especially don’t tell her about Harry’s link with-”
“Sh! If someone hears our conversation, things could get hairy.”
We finally got to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Professor Umbridge was standing by the door with a sickly sweet smile on her face. She cleared her throat,
“I’m glad to know you two are so keen to learn.”
Fred and I looked at eachother before nodding,
“Of course!”
She glanced down at our entwined hands and pulled out her wand. She flicked it with a smile, and our hands were jerked apart. I frowned at Fred. Why would Professor Umbridge care if we held hands? It didn’t matter to her.
She tucked her wand away again,
“Now, we don’t want any of that around this school, do we?”
I rolled my eyes. Her rules were absolutely ridiculous. If she didn’t leave Hogwarts soon, things would be changed completely.