Chapter 5
A/N- Hey guys! Thanks for checking out my fanfic! I'm really excited to keep the Harry Potter world going, and I hope that you like the story. Things are about to get more exciting now, so that's good. I will be trying to upload as regularly as I can. Enjoy! :)
"OW!" I screamed as the corner of an envelope hit me on the head before crashing onto the table. I really need to teach Deidre how to aim, I thought as I watched my tawny owl soar above the great hall.
"What is that?" Hermione asked, looking at the letter. "Who's it from?"
"Well somebody is feeling nosy today!" I said, giving her a playful look. I was so happy we were friends again. Turning away slightly, I flipped the letter over to see who it was from, when my heart stopped in my chest. Dad. Without wanting to look panicked, I slid up from the table, turning back to Hermione. "I have to go," I said shortly. Maybe too shortly.
"Oh my god, who do you think you're fooling?" Hermione asked as she stood up too. "Who is the letter from?" I had to lie. I couldn't open it up with her there. What if it was something bad? I had no choice but to lie, which was pretty inconvenient for me, since I had already lied to my closest friends several times since school started.
"Look... It's from...." I started, looking around the room. Oh, who was I kidding? Anyone I said she wouldn't believe. "It's from my dad," I said flatly. "I'm gonna go read it."
"Not without me you're not!" Hermione said as she followed me out of the Great Hall.
I let out a small groan as I dragged my feet across the cold stone floors. "No! I have to read it alone. I'll let you read it if it's something you would be interested in, I swear."
Hermione stopped walking. "You really are the most secretive girl I've ever met," she said softly. "I always thought that you would treat me differently, that you would let me in. Apparently I was wrong." She looked down sadly.
"Please don't be mad..." I started.
"I'm not mad," she interrupted. "Really, I'm not. Just disappointed. Go," she said, gesturing towards the big marble staircase. "Maybe it's important." I walked over to her and gave her a huge hug.
"Thank you," I said, smiling. "I'll be back in a minute." I dashed up the stairs and began heading towards the Room of Requirement. I walked quickly, wanting to avoid questioning from any teachers. I need a place to hide, I need a place to hide, I need a place to hide, I said as I paced in front of the blank stone wall. Suddenly, two big wooden doors appeared. I grabbed onto the thick brass handles and let myself in. My jaw dropped when I looked ahead. Wall to wall, floor to ceiling, were millions of objects. Apparently lots of students had things they wanted to hide. I wandered through the isles, looking at all the abandoned artifacts, when suddenly I stopped dead in my tracks.
"Harmonia Nectere Passus," a voice hissed. I covered my mouth to keep from crying out. I reached for my wand as silently as I could, and slowly moved forward.
"Harmonia Nectere Passus," the voice said again, closer this time. It was too dark for me to see anything.
"Lumos," I whispered, light emerging from the tip of my wand. I inched closer to the sound, going through all the jinxes I knew in my head.
"Harmonia Nectere Passus!!" the voice said, urgently. Wait, I thought. I know that voice... Malfoy. Turning back to the door, I thought about leaving, but decided against it. What exactly was he doing in here? Did he have something that he needed to hide too?
I crouched low so that he wouldn't see me. He was standing in front of a large and dusty cabinet, looking extremely stressed. What the?... It looked like he was trying to do some kind of dark magic. Maybe Cassady was right all this time, I thought. Maybe he is really a Death Eater. Tears threatened to fill my vision, which was weird, considering I didn't care at all about Malfoy. Well, no matter whether he was a Death Eater or not, he was doing something bad. And I was going to stop him.
"Expelliarmus!" I cried, leaping out to face him. His dark wand flew out of his hand, leaving him disarmed.
"Ahhh!" he cried, falling over from shock. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
"Never mind what I'm doing here!" I shot back. "What are you doing?" Malfoy quickly stood up, standing up to his full height.
"None of your damn business, Cliffton! You can't just sneak up on me like that!"
"Well, actually I can. Now, what are you doing?" I asked again, holding my illuminated wand up to his face. His eyes darted nervously from side to side, as if someone would come bursting in on us.
"Look... I'm doing... Well who cares!" he shouted, frustrated.
"I care! Because it looks like you're doing something suspicious, and I intend on stopping you!"
This made Malfoy smirk for some reason. His eyes wandered down to the scarlet envelope in my hand from Dad, which I tightened my grip on.
"Hmmm... Looks like I'm not the only one doing something suspicious," he sneered, trying to read the return address on the letter. "Why did you need to hide it, Cliffton? Maybe we should go to Dumbledore and ask him to read it..."
"Yeah, very funny!" I laughed. "Don't try to make this about me."
"You know if I didn't know any better..." Malfoy started, his cold gaze searching my eyes, "I'd say that letter is from your dad at the Ministry of Magic. You see, I get letters like that when Father sends them to me, and they have that exact same envelope. And as I recall from your little scene in the great hall, you appear to be having some problems with your daddy."
That got me. I dropped the wand and the envelope and grabbed his neck, shoving him up against the weird looking cabinet.
"Now you listen here," I hissed, my face inches away from his. "I don't really care what you're doing in here as long as it doesn't affect me or my friends. But I swear to God Malfoy, if you insult my father once, you won't live to see tomorrow." I threw him down roughly before turning around to retrieve my wand and letter.
"Look Cliffton, I'm not trying to insult anyone," Malfoy said shakily. I raised my eyebrows, surprised. I really shook him up, scared him even. "Maybe we both have something to hide, so I'll give you a deal. I won't tell about your letter if you won't tell about me and the vanishing cabinet."
"The what?" I asked, moving closer to the cabinet. Malfoy put his head in his hands, distraught.
"Nevermind what it is!" he jumped up, running between me and the cabinet. "The point is, we both have our own little secrets. Let's not tell."
"Are you asking me to do you a favor, Malfoy?" I asked, speechless. "You've bullied me ever since first year, and now you want me to help you with your weird cabinet?"
"Hey," he said. "You need me too. You apparently don't want anyone to know about that stupid letter of yours."
"True..." I said. I looked him straight in the eyes, transfixed for a moment by how bright they were. Wait, I thought. Did I really just think about Malfoy's eyes? I was losing it. "Okay, fine," I said with a sigh. "I'll keep your secret."
"And I'll keep yours," Malfoy said softly. The awkward silence grew until it was nearly unbearable.
"Alright," I stuttered, trying to find a way out of the situation. "I'm just gonna go somewhere else to read this."
"You could read it here," Malfoy mumbled, almost inaudible.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing, nothing," Malfoy said quickly.
"Oh... Alright," I said, walking towards the door. "Oh and Malfoy?" I asked, turning back to face him.
"Yeah?" he asked, his tired eyes coming back to mine.
"Are you sick or something?" I asked, looking at his exhausted face. "You look... I don't know, not well."
"I'm fine," he said unconvincingly. For some reason, my older sister instincts kicked in for me to go and help him, but it was immediately pushed away. I hated Malfoy! What was I doing still talking to him?
"Okay... I'm just gonna go," I said, going back to the door. I pulled it open and slipped out. "Well that was freaking weird," I said to myself.
...
"Hello, Audrey," the familiar voice droned as I walked into the bathroom.
"Hey Myrtle," I said, going to the only other deserted place I could think of. I sat down on one of the toilets, and pulled the letter out from my robe pocket.
Dear Audrianna,
How is your sixth year at Hogwarts going? I can't say enough how proud I am of your OWL scores. You are going to make a fine witch. Unfortunately, I am going to have to be the bearer of some unfortunate news. Things at the Ministry are much worse than we feared, and I am going to have to cancel our Holiday plans. You will have to remain at Hogwarts, where you're safe. The same applies for Cassady. And Audrianna, please watch over her. I'm counting on you to instill calm, and tell her all is well. There is so much I wish I could tell you, but it's too risky to send anything important by owl. Not a day goes by where I don't miss you, Audrianna. I love you so much. Don't worry about anything. I will see you soon.
Love,
Michael Cliffton