October arrived fairly quickly, with Lara too mortified by her pink hair to try anything for now, and most people with colds having to be cured by Madam Pomfrey. Percy and I had pestered Ginny, who had been looking quite ill, into taking Madam Pomfrey's Pepperup potion, which worked instantly but left the drinker smoking at the ears afterwards. Ginny had glared at me as I'd tried to conceal my laughter; and then she'd been the one laughing, because I caught a cold too and had to take the exact same cure.
The rain never seemed to stop; great big drops of rain that turned the outside to mud. Every time we had Herbology I got soaked; but it was better seeing Malfoy walk in after quidditch practice with his blonde hair dripping all over the place.
One time I'd laughed he'd come over and sat next to me on one of the couches that were placed in the common room; I'd stared at him, confused and defensive.
"What do you want?"
He sighed. "I want to apologise."
I'd just looked at him, too shocked to say anything.
"I teased you about something incredibly personal, in front of a whole load of people, which... Was wrong, and upset you, and I'm extremely sorry, and I have no idea where I'm going with this but I'm just going to keep talking because your facial expression isn't changing at all -"
"It's okay." I interrupted. He smiled, relieved.
"Really?"
"... Yeah. I, uh... I accept your apology."
I heard him mutter "Yes!" Under his breath. I smiled despite myself.
"This - this doesn't mean we're friends or anything," I said hurriedly. "Just that... I don't completely hate you."
He nodded. "Good enough for me."
He got up and left, and I felt weird. We weren't friends, we weren't enemies, so... Where were we now?
***
So, I was just minding my own business, walking past a classroom, when I hear a massive CRASH from inside. I peer in and see Peeves the Poltergeist laughing, and the wreckage of a black and gold cabinet.
I sighed. "Great..."
"Ooh, sorry about that," Claimed Nearly Headless Nick apologetically. "Had to distract Filch, you see."
He then eyed me carefully.
"You're a Slytherin," He said.
"Oh, thanks," I muttered.
"Do you happen to be in contact with the Bloody Baron?"
"Do you ask that to every Slytherin pupil you see?"
"No," He said indignantly.
"Well -" I was interrupted by Filch entering the classroom and glaring angrily at Peeves.
"Oh, I'll have you this time, Peeves!" He yelled, causing me to flinch. The Poltergeist simply pointed at me.
"It wasn't me!" He lied. "It was her!"
I just looked at him, frustrated.
Filch stared at me, as if I were a foreign creature.
"That true?" He asked me, glaring.
"No!" I sighed, exasperated. Filch stared at me for a few seconds, then walked back out of the classroom. Nick turned back to me.
"So, you don't know the Bloody Baron, then?"
"I'm glad to say I've only ever run into him once," I said.
"Oh," Replied the ghost. "Lucky you." He noticed Harry walking past us, and glided after him.
"Harry! Harry! Did it work?"
I followed him out, looking a lot less elegant.
"I persuaded Peeves to crash it right over Filch's office," He said eagerly. "Thought it might distract him -"
"Was that you?" Said Harry gratefully. "Yeah, it worked, I didn't even get detention. Thanks, Nick!"
I stood shocked for a few seconds. "Not even detention?" I echoed, scrambling after the two who were walking (or well, Harry was walking) up the corridor together, talking about some Headless Hunt and a Deathday party, which Nick was inviting Harry to (the Deathday party, I mean. Inviting him to a Headless Hunt might be slightly off-putting). Once they had parted, I struggled to catch up with Harry.
"Harry, hold on one second!" I called. He turned, then smiled at me.
"Hi, Clara. You alright?"
"Yeah, you?" We began to walk together.
"Good."
"Um, Harry..."
"Yeah?"
"You'll probably think I'm mad - my roommates did - but..."
"What is it?" He asked, stopping.
"Well, on that night, you know, on the day of the whole quidditch pitch thing with Slytherin and Gryffindor..."
Harry nodded.
"Well, it's just, Ginny told me that you were in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, and I was wondering... Did you hear anything?"
Harry's eyes widened. "Like what?"
"Like, uh, I don't know -"
"A whispering? Really cold? Almost like a snake?" He asked.
"Yes, that's it!" I exclaimed. At least someone else had heard it, I wasn't going insane. "But... What is it? The things it was saying..."
"I don't know, either. But it can't be good," Harry said.
We reached Harry's portrait, and said our goodbyes. For just a few seconds, I stared after him longingly, wishing that was my common room too, before the Fat Lady nagged at me to move.
***
By the time Halloween had come around, I would normally sit with Ginny at the Gryffindor table (and she would glare at anyone who looked uncomfortable about it, daring them to say something), but we both knew we couldn't do that for the feast tonight. Strictly speaking, we were meant to sit with our houses, and though on most days the professors didn't notice (or if they did, they didn't really care), at a feast like this it was inevitable that I had to sit with Slytherin.
So that's how I came to be sat next to Draco Malfoy at the Halloween feast.
He asked this time. It was slightly odd; He came over to me, alone, and asked me, slightly uncertainly:
"I-Is it alright if I sit here?"
I don't know whether it was because he asked, or because he stammered, or because he sounded gentle again, like all those weeks ago, but I surprised myself by saying yes.
He smiled and sat down, and then we started talking.
It was unbelievably strange; He was civil, for once, and actually rather kind; I found myself enjoying my time with him, although the voice in the back of my head was yelling incessantly to stop, right now. At one point, he told some joke about female Werewolves having two 'Times of the month', and I laughed.
If only he was like this all the time, we might actually get along.
"Why do you act so different most of the time?" I asked suddenly. His smile faded.
"What do you mean?"
"You're always so horrible around everyone else. Yet sometimes, when we're alone, you act so much nicer. And I can tell that that's the real you, that all this bad boy stuff is the act. So why do you do it?"
He picked at his food, the tension between is growing.
"I can tell you want to prove yourself to them," He said to me.
"What? Who?"
"Your parents. You want to prove that you're a good choice for them, that way they'll be there for you, and maybe one day he'll stop -"
He stopped himself, swallowing. "Anyway. I have the exact same problem, only our parents have completely different goals."
I was quiet. "Stop what?" I asked eventually.
He shook his head. "Not... Not here."
I hesitated, debating my next action, when I heard it.
"Rip... Tear... Kill..."
It was the same voice from that day, the one I'd heard outside the DADA classroom.
"Do you hear that?" I asked Draco.
He shook his head. "What?"
"Soo hungry... For so long..."
"That voice! Tell me you can hear it."
Draco shook his head again slowly; he probably thought I was insane.
"Kill... Time to kill..."
"I need to find out what it is," I said, about to get up from my seat. He grabbed my wrist.
"Where are you going?"
"To find that thing!" I left the great hall, narrowly avoiding Snape by saying I didn't feel well, and followed the voice. I ran into Harry on the stairs, who looked as alarmed as me.
"Did you hear it?" He asked me. I nodded.
"I smell blood... I SMELL BLOOD!"
"It's going to kill someone!" Harry shouted, before running up the stairs three at a time, me just behind him, Ron and Hermione following us, bewildered.
We ran around the entire second floor, not stopping until we turned into a deserted passage.
"Harry, what was that all about?" Said Ron, wiping sweat off his face. "I couldn't hear anything..."
"Look!" Hermione and I both gasped, looking at the other end of the corridor.
Something was shining on the wall. We approached it slowly, squinting in the darkness. Words had been written on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches.
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
"What's that thing - hanging underneath?" Said Ron, his voice quivering slightly.
As we edged nearer, Harry almost slipped on water on the floor; I grabbed his arm, and he smiled gratefully. The four of us inched towards the message, eyes fixed on the dark shadow beneath it, before all realising what it was at the same time and leaping backwards with a splash.
Mrs Norris was hanging by her tail from the torch bracket, her eyes wide and staring. I felt faintly sick, and terrified, my eyes wide. We all stood still in silence, before Ron spoke.
"Let's get out of here."
"Shouldn't we try and help -" Harry began awkwardly.
"Trust me," Said Ron. "We don't want to be found here."
It was too late. A rumble told us that the Feast had just ended. From either end of the corridor came the sound of feet climbing the stairs and loud chatter. The next moment, students were on both sides of the stairs.
The noise died suddenly as people spotted the hanging cat. The four of us stood alone in the middle of the corridor, as silence fell.
Then someone shouted through the quiet.
"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"
I glared at the owner of the voice. It was Malfoy. He had pushed to the front of the crowd, his cold eyes alive, his face flushed, as he took in the sight of the thing above us.
It scared me.
His eyes fell on me next, and I saw my own terror reflected in them, as just for a second, his face flickered to show concern for me before the mask returned.
Hell was loose.
A/N:
IT HAS BEGUN!
So, is Draco good, or evil? Hmm... Hope you liked that chapter, especially the Clara/Draco moments. Oh, and just to be clear, yes, Colin does like Clara, but no, Clara does not like Colin. Funny, so far, she's only liked boys that are older than her!
Who do you think Clara will end up with?
Please vote and comment!
I DO NOT OWN HARRY - okay, you get the idea now.
Farewell, Potterheads!