I push my long damp hair out of my face before shoving my hands in the pocket on my hoodie. The halls are dead empty seeing as most people are attending the Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff game. I was slightly glad that none of the girls were in the dorm when I got back, otherwise I would certainly have been bombarded with hundreds of questions.
"You're late." Malfoy mumbles as I meet him outside the entrance to Mcgonagall's office. "I had to shower." I shrug. He rolls his eyes before turning to the large gargoyle and muttering the password to Mcgonagall's office. Even though she was my aunt, I had picked up the other student's habit of calling her by her last name.
I trudged up the stairs, following Malfoy. When we came into view of her large office she looked up at us from beneath her silver spectacles.
"Emma, Draco, I must say I'm surprised to see the both of you." She says.
"Sorry Aunt Minerva, I hope we weren't interrupting anything but-"
Malfoy finishes my sentence for me, "We have some things to discuss."
She furrows her brows together before taking off her glasses and gently placing them on her desk.
"Well, please, take a seat." She says as she nods towards two plush chairs in front of her desk.
I pull out a chair, taking a seat before looking to Malfoy to take charge. "Rookwood found Emma last night." He says abruptly.
A look of surprise crosses her face before she turns to me giving me a questioning look. "Well, go on." She nods. "By some stroke of luck I spotted him wandering around Hogsmeade and decided to see what he was up to. That's when I noticed he was following Emma." He begins.
"Emma you were alone? In Hogsmeade? At night?" She questions sternly. I look away before nodding.
"I - I didn't realize I would be in danger! Nobody tells me these things," I exclaim, "Besides, I was looking for something that's why I was alone." I add weakly.
"Looking for what?" She asks.
"It doesn't matter." I mumble.
"Very well." She sighs,
"Is that all then?" She asks. I am quick to speak.
"Not even close!! Thank goodness for Malfoy I mean he helped me, surprising I know but, we hid behind one of the shops till we thought we were safe. Then, when we were walking back, Rookwood was suddenly right there! And he was with Cole Remington's Dad! Did you know he's a death eater? I was kind of shocked, but I always knew that kid was shady, anyways-" Minerva interrupts me.
"Emma, slow down, please." She says. I hadn't realize the practical spill of words escaping my mouth, or how fast I was talking.
"Sorry." I mumble.
"So what else happened?" She asks, but this time she turns to Malfoy to ask. I can't help the small scowl that works itself onto my face.
"I tried to help Emma but they stunned me. That's when she took off running and lead Rookwood into the forest." He says.
"You led a death eater into the forest after you?" Minerva exclaims. "What else was I supposed to do?" I defend.
"Anyways," Malfoy continues, we explain the rest to her. How Rookwood had me cornered and tied up and Malfoy saved me and then how Rookwood was quite literally on the verge of killing Malfoy and I saved him in return. How I did that, I'm still not sure, but I wasn't necessarily complaining.
When we finish, she brings both hands to her temples and sighs, a visible motion of stress.
"Well, I'm glad you're both okay." She mumbles and pauses for a second. "I assume Draco explained to you the situation behind all of this?" She asks me.
I nod. "But why didn't you tell me earlier? I would've been more careful had I know," I say. I can't help but feel upset that I have been kept in the dark this whole time.
"I didn't want to worry you about what was going on. You're still adjusting to this new life, the extra stress seemed unnecessary." She explains. "I guess that makes sense." I say, taking note of how much of a considerable wreck I felt like currently.
She looks between the two of us. "I think it's best if you both go on about your daily business. Don't worry about anything else besides working on your magic, Emma. I will try to take care of the other stuff." She says. I nod. She looks at her pocket watch. "I have other matters to attend to, but thank you for telling me about this." She says. We both nod before taking our leave.
When we reach the hallway Malfoy speaks up first. "You're hiding something." He says. I stop walking. "What makes you think that?" I ask. "I can read you like a book, I know there is something bothering you. There has been for the past few weeks." He says. My jaw drops. "What the hell?" I mutter. Am I really that transparent?
"So what is it then?" He asks. "Nothing." I lie. "That's obviously isn't true, Ashwood. Why can't you just tell me?" He asks. "You told me yourself not to trust you. What makes you think I would tell you anything?" I counter, referring to a few weeks earlier. I think back to the words that had played on repeat in my head for quite sometime.
"From now on, trust no one." Draco Malfoy had told me after my second awful encounter with Cole. "Even you? " I remember asking, confused as to why he was telling me this. "Especially me." He had responded. A response that I had least expected, and one that I never forgot.
"Yes, but I told you that you could trust me last night." He says. "What? When you were trying to get me to be quiet, so we could hide from Rookwood? You probably just said that to get me to shut up." I mutter before attempting to walk away from him.
"Well you're not wrong," He says before catching up to me and quickly moving in front of me to stop me from walking any further, "But you know you can tell me right?" He says. "And why should I? I still don't know if I trust you or not." I say.
"I saved your life, I think you can trust me." He says. "And I saved yours but you don't seem to trust me yet." I say, poking him in the chest and wondering how many times we had said the word "trust" in the past 60 seconds. He sighs. "I don't trust anyone." He says.
"Well that's not the way it works Malfoy. Trust is a two-way street." I tell him.
He scowls. "Look, I just know something is up with you. You've just been acting off recently. What if what you're trying to hide can actually be of some help to us?" He explains.
"Us?" I ask, catching his last word. He brings his hand to the back of his head. "Er- You." He corrects himself. I exhale deeply.
"I doubt it would help." I mutter as I try to move past him. He stops me by putting both hands on my shoulders. I freeze at his touch. "Just leave me alone." I say. "When I leave you alone you end up getting yourself into trouble." He sighs.
"And you are by far the most troubling thing in my life Malfoy." I say before I finally move past him, leaving him standing in the hallway with his hands deep in his pockets and a scowl on his face.
* * * * *
"EMMELINE ASHWOOD WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Arden roars the second I step foot into the common room.
Nearly every person looks up from what they're doing to stare directly at me. "Nothing to see here." I sneer to the group of third years with their full attention on me.
I turn towards my friends, currently seated with Blaise and Theodore Nott. "I-I had to take care of some things with Mcgonagall," I say. Capri raises her brow, while the smirk Blaise and Nott share does not go unnoticed by me.
"Is everything ok Em?" She asks. I nod. "Of course, why wouldn't it be?" I ask, coming off a little too confident. "Well you've just been acting... different lately." Daphne says. I shake my head. "I'm still just adjusting to everything. It's nothing, really." I tell them.
Before any of my friends can ask any more questions, Blaise cuts in. "Really Ashwood? Then why do both you and Malfoy go missing for over 12 hours, at the exact same time?" He asks, a sly smirk spreading across his face, and he nods towards the entrance to the common room.
I notice Malfoy has just entered into the common room. "What are you looking at?" He shouts to the same group of 3rd years before turning his attention back to us. "What bullshit are you on about now Zabini?" He sneers as he walks towards us.
"Oh, only how we are pretty sure you and Ashwood are secretly shagging." Nott chimes in. "WHAT?" We both shout in unison. I give Nott a serious glare. I don't think I've ever exchanged more than two words with the guy, why is he saying stuff like that all of a sudden?
Blaise and Theo crack up immediately.
"You're on some shit if you think I would ever do such a thing with Malfoy." I shudder.
"Oh don't act like such a saint Ashwood. If you got the chance we all know you would take it." He smirks. I wack him hard in the chest.
"I think you're confused with your own desires, Malfoy." I counter venomously.
"Cut it out you two!" Capri snaps. "You guys don't believe this crap, right?" I ask. "Honestly, we're not sure what to believe any more Emma. You never tell us anything." Capri frowns. The second she says this, I realize that I haven't been as good of a friend as I should be. I sigh.
"Do you guys think we could take this conversation somewhere a little more private?" I ask the three girls. The nod before standing and beginning to head towards the girls dorms.
Right as I begin to follow Arden, Malfoy grabs my elbow, holding me back. "You're not seriously considering telling them are you?" He whispers fiercely.
"And why shouldn't I?" I ask.
"You really are more stupid than I thought." He snaps.
"They're my friends, they deserve to know." I tell him before roughly pulling my arm out of his grasp and catching up with my friends.