Chapter 25
As it should be, Platform 9 3/4 is bustling with people. Students of all ages getting ready to go back to school for another year. As much as I want to be excited something keeps tugging at me in my stomach. A deep feeling of dread just lays there eating away at me.
I force myself to focus on my cat, who is meowing in her crate. My mom finally delivered her a couple days ago to Malfoy Manor. Let's just say Lucius was not pleased with a cat roaming around. If I remember his exact words to me were, "Keep that cat in your room."
Draco and I have been fine the past couple of days but I still have a feeling he doesn't like me as much as he used to. He keeps trying to reassure me that he's fine with what I told him but I still get that feeling. It's the subtle shifts in him that I've noticed. When we are sitting in my room and talking together he will flinch away from me when I move towards him. He'll sit far away from me and won't cuddle unless I ask him to. I shouldn't have told him anything.
I take a deep breath, before looking around the station, looking for familiar faces. Soon enough I find Parker and her mother coming my way. Parker sprints over and pulls me into a hug before letting go and smiling.
"I'm excited for this year." She says.
"I see that." I say giving the best smile I could offer.
"Are you?"
"Yeah." I lie. I am very much not excited for this year.
"Annette." Narcissa says in a clipped tone, making Parker and I look at her and her mother.
"Narcissa. How is my cousin in law, Lucius?" Parker's mother responds, playing it off. Narcissa gives her a glare but stays poised.
"Lucius is fine. And my son is doing fine as well." I look over at Parker who is just as slack jawed as me. Draco tenses up and stares at Parker and I with a questioning look. We both shrug. Turns out none of us know what is going on. Ethan is off looking for his friends so we can't ask him.
"Parker has told me that your son has been in a relationship with Mandy Lafoi's daughter. That's surprising to say the least. She is a half-blood if I recall." Narcissa gives me a small glare before returning the conversation.
"If my son and Felicity have any relationship with each other I have not heard about it." She says, growing tense. Annette nods her head and smirks. Now that I am looking at her, she looks like Narcissa. The multi-colored hair and blue eyes that are almost gray. They are related in some way. I'm going to assume they are cousins.
"Have a good day Narcissa. Do write one day. I would love to have dinner with you at some time. Have a good school year, Parker. Love you and write to me if you need." Parker nods her head, before watching her mother walk off and away from us.
"She's your cousin, isn't she? Or was?" I ask Narcissa.
"Was." Narcissa says quickly, before glaring at Parker. "She was disowned. Or kicked out of the family for marrying a muggle-born." Narcissa gave Draco a quick good-bye before walking off.
"Come on. The trio has already found our seats." Parker grabs my arm, pulling me to the train, while I wave bye to Draco. He smirks at me before he disappears into the sea of people. I sigh, trying to keep up with Parker, being nearly impossible with how many people are around.
"So you're related to Draco. That's weird." I comment as we get on the train.
"I don't want to think about it." She replies with a laugh.
"I'm related to Harry." I say quietly. She stops and turns to face me, her jaw on the floor. I shrug and quickly explain to her what happened on summer break and how I'm not sure if I should tell him.
"That's why Pettigrew called you Potter. I had been wondering why. Anyway, I think you should tell him."
"Park, he needs to think that he doesn't have any family other than Sirius in fifth. I'm going to talk to Sirius and Lupin when I get the chance and see what they say first." She nods her head. The train lurches forwards, telling everyone that we are starting our journey back to Hogwarts. Parker and I walk through isles of students trying to find seats, before we come across the golden trio's compartment.
"Won't it be too cramped?" I ask before Parker opens the door.
"Hey guys, I rescued Felicity." I roll my eyes and wait for Parker to sit down next to Harry, closest to the window.
"Is it ok if I take Shadow out of her cage?" I ask mainly to Hermione, who has Crookshanks sitting asleep on her lap.
"Yeah, it's ok. Crookshanks is usually fine around other cats." I nod my head, before taking a sleeping Shadow out of her carrier and putting the carrier on the shelves above the seat. I sit on the other side of Harry, trying to put a lot of distance between us so it won't be so cramped. I set Shadow on my lap, which causes her to stir a bit but otherwise she stays asleep.
"Shouldn't you be with Malfoy, Wilhite?" Ron asks.
I swallow down any emotion and shake my head. "I don't have to be around him all the time." I reply with a shrug. Parker and Hermione look at me with concern in their eyes but I shrug them both off. Parker will find out later when we get to the common room.
Hermione starts a conversation by asking how everyone's summer was. That turned into discussing the quidditch match and not the after events. That turned into other topics until the trolley witch came by and asked if we wanted anything.
"A packet of droobles and a licorice wand." Ron said as he stood up. Once he saw the price, he told the trolley witch just the droobles.
Once Harry was done staring at Cho, I stood up, had Parker hold Shadow for a second, and asked for a few things.
"One licorice wand. Three chocolate frogs, all milk chocolate. Two chocolate skeletons and a pumpkin pasty." I pay for them quickly, then sit back down. I hand Ron the licorice wand, which for some reason earns me a glare. I give Hermione and Parker a chocolate frog each. The other for Harry. Keeping one for me, I hand Parker a chocolate skeleton. And the pumpkin pasty is for me.
"I thought you didn't like pumpkin?" Parker asks as she sets Shadow back onto my lap.
"I wanted to try it." I shrug.
"You know buying things for people isn't going to get them to like you." Ron comments with his arms crossed.
"Ronald. She's trying to be nice. Stop it." Hermione scolds him and hits him on the shoulder.
"Weaslebee better not be being an ass to my girlfriend." Draco's voice calls from the hallway. He appears at the door a second later, smirking like usual.
I roll my eyes, knowing Draco is just looking to pick a fight. "He's not Dray. I'm fine." He frowns at me, but then turns to Ron with a glare. I stand up, hand Shadow to Parker, and lightly push Draco out of the compartment.
"Dray, stop trying to pick fights please." I whisper.
"I'm not trying to pick fights." He huffs, with a small smile forming on his lips. I roll my eyes and let out a sigh.
"You're going to be the death of me, I swear. Go to your seat. I can handle Weasley." He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles before nodding his head and walking off.
"Since when is Malfoy that...nice." Harry's voice calls from the compartment.
"I have that effect on people." I say with a shrug and a smile, while turning back to the compartment. I take Shadow back from Parker and sit down, then start munching on the pumpkin pasty. It was good. I still don't really like pumpkin but this tastes pretty good.
"Have you seen the prophet?" Hermione asks. "No one knows who conjured the dark mark. It's horrible. Wasn't there any security?"
"Loads. According to dad." Ron replies.
"It was an inside thing." I murmur which makes everyone look at me. "What? I've spent the summer with alleged death eaters. I hear things." I shrug and go back to focusing on the sleeping cat on my lap.
"It's hurting again, isn't it?" Hermione asks Harry. "Your scar?"
"It's fine." Harry replies.
"You know Sirius will want to hear about this. What you saw at the world cup and the dream." Harry nods his head before getting a piece of parchment and writing a quick letter to Sirius. Then he sends it off.
The rest of the ride is quiet. Everyone seemed tense and all I wanted to do was get out of there. Ron kept glaring at me while Hermione talked about the Quidditch World cup.
When the train finally stopped, I let out a long sigh and put Shadow in her carrier, before quickly running to find Draco. It didn't take long. His blonde hair is easy to spot in a crowd. I joined him and his friends quietly, so he didn't notice me until Pansy pointed it out.
I ended up joining Parker again, who ended up walking with Fred and George. I shiver as I catch up to them, the rain soaking into my robes and into my skin.
"You felt it too?" Parker asked as I finally caught up to her.
"Yes. It was suffocating." I breathe out, while trying to catch my breath. "Fred, George. Hi." They say "Hi" in return with smiles on their faces.
"You need to work on your endurance, Feliz." Fred comments.
"I know. But to be fair I ran from the train, to here." I say as I step onto the carriage. Finally some warmth. I sigh and look out the window, watching as the thestrals start moving.
"How long before the other schools arrive?" Parker asks, which makes Fred and George give her a curious look.
I shrug. The twins will find out soon and I already know a good excuse anyway. "Last week of October is when they arrive. First task is November 24th."
"Ok."
Maybe it's just me but hearing Pansy whine about everything is annoying. The whole sorting ceremony Pansy has complained about the kids that were put in Slytherin. Like they had any choice in it. Parker keeps stabbing her potatoes so she won't stab Pansy. She told me. I want to do the same. Draco has kept his hand on my shaking knee the entire time, while acting like he's listening to Pansy's rants. I've been picking at my food. I'm not really hungry. Something right now just seems off.
"You need to eat." Draco whispers to me.
"I'm not hungry."
"Please." He replies. I nod my head and take a few bites, before picking at it again. Draco seems to notice. He gives my knees a small squeeze.
Soon Dumbledore is at the podium, ready to give announcements. He goes through how the school year will go, announcing that there won't be quidditch and no house cup this year. All things I don't really care about.
"The reason for that is because we will be housing two other schools this year for a very special occasion. We have the honor of hosting the Tri-wizard Tournament." He goes on to explain how the tournament will work and how the contestants will be chosen. I try my best to listen but I can't. There is still a nagging feeling in my stomach that I can't ignore. Something has changed this year. I can feel it. And it is definitely not a good change. Parker, Ethan and I changed something by being here.
After Moody was introduced with a dramatic entrance, Dumbledore dismissed everyone to their common rooms, which I gladly went to. On the way, the Prefect of Slytherin explained to the first years how to get to the common room and how to get in.
"I need to speak to miss Wilhite." Snape says to the prefect. I perk my head up at the mention of my name and gulp. What could he possibly need me for? I give a concerned look to Draco before walking off with Snape to his office.
"Dumbledore wants me to immediately teach you occlumency. Starting right now unfortunately." Snape says as I walk in. I nod my head and sit down on the chair at his desk. Without warning, a mind splitting pain moves through my head. Memories that I keep hidden move to the front of my mind. I try to focus and push those memories away from Snape before he can get to them but he breaks my defenses easily.
Suddenly, I am back in the office. I am sweating and panting a lot, from the amount of force that Snape went into my head.
"Good but you'll have to be stronger if you want to keep the Dark Lord out of your head."
"I-i know." He nods his head, then narrows his eyes at me again. The pain comes back and memories I don't want to see fill my vision. I focus on pushing the memories into the back corners of my mind. I happen to slightly push Snape back and away from my thoughts but he ends up pushing through and looking through all of them. Especially the ones I don't want him to see.
With a jolt, I am back in his office, again. He gives me a curious glance, then dismisses me for the night. I walk out of the office with a major headache and tears flooding my eyes. I run to the common room as quickly as I can, while trying not to aggravate my headache.
As soon as I enter the common room, I sit on the steps leading down to the sitting area and place my head in my hands. The common room is relatively empty. It seems to be just me. I sob to myself. My mind feels like it's been invaded, like nothing is personal anymore. Nothing can be just mine anymore.
"Wilhite?" I jump back at Blaise's voice, without meaning to. "You good?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Is Draco already in bed?" He nods his head.
"He wanted me to tell you that he says goodnight." I nod my head and brush the tears away from my face.
"Ok." I stand up and start heading to my dorm, but Blaise catches my arm and stops me from going anywhere.
"Don't break his heart. He doesn't need that." His brown eyes bore into mine, like he's trying to read my every thought.
"I don't want to do that to him." I whisper. "I'm more scared that he's gonna break mine."
"Trust me. He won't." He lets me go and walks to the couch. I walk to my dorm and head straight to my dresser to get changed. Parker and Pansy are already asleep. The room was dark and quiet.
I go to the bathroom and stop at the mirror for a second, inspecting myself. How is it possible that I have gotten skinnier than the first time I saw myself. I look almost sick. I have bags under my eyes and my cheeks don't look as full anymore. It's weird.
I shrug it off and put on my pajamas, then walk into the dorm, let Shadow out of her carrier and lay in bed. I close my eyes and hope that sleep will come easily to me.
I wake up with my head pounding. Pansy and Parker are already arguing and getting ready at the same time. I sigh before getting up and grabbing my clothes waiting for Pansy to get out of the bathroom. Once she is done, I go and quickly get ready for our first classes of the school year, which we will get our schedules at breakfast.
I joined Parker, walking to the Great Hall for breakfast. For the most part we stay silent. Until halfway through the walk.
"What happened with you and Draco?" Parker asks.
"I told him about shifting and I don't think he took it too well." I bite my lip and wait for her to respond.
"Not everyone is going to get it."
"I know that. He keeps saying that he's fine with it but he barely lets me touch him without flinching away." Tears start to run down my face. "I messed up. I shouldn't have told him." Parker stops walking and pulls me into a hug, that I can't bring myself to return.
"Do you want me to talk to him?"
I shake my head. "If you talk to him, he's going to end up getting hurt." She laughs as I pull away. We start walking again, while I wipe my eyes to hide the fact that I was crying.
I pull my cloak tighter, around myself and we walk into the early morning air. The Great Hall is in the west wing of the castle, while the Slytherin common room is in the east wing, so we have to cross a bridge just to get to the great hall and back.
"You'd think there would be a hallway or something like that, connecting the two wings. Not bridges." Parker mumbles through chattering teeth. I laugh, thinking the same thing.
"Cold?" I ask with a smirk.
"Very."
"I'm surprised you aren't used to it by now Sallow." Draco says from behind me, while he puts his arm around my waist.
"I'm not a cold person Malfoy." She glares at him but it doesn't last. I lean closer to Draco, trying to get a tiny bit warm. Surprisingly, he doesn't flinch away from me. I rest my head on his shoulder.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he has gotten used to the idea. Or he is just pretending for Parker. So she won't hurt him. I frown at that thought and slightly inch away from him.
We walked off to the slytherin tables and sat down in the spots we sat last night. Breakfast foods of all kinds filled the table, along with plates and goblets to fill. I grabbed some eggs, bacon and a piece of toast, then filled up my cup with water. I pick at my food. The feeling in my stomach prevents me from being hungry at the moment.
"We messed with something Parker, but I don't know what." I whisper.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you feel it? Something changed, just by us being here. Something's wrong this year and it's not just what is supposed to happen. I just don't know what we changed just yet."
"I feel that too." Ethan says as he walks up to the table.
"I hope it doesn't have anything to do with the tournament." I reply. Ethan nods his head along with Parker.
"I don't feel it but if you two are saying something is wrong, I'm going to agree. With reality shifting, we never know. I made my script very vague because I wanted surprises."
"So did I." Ethan and I said at the same time.
"Look whatever it is, we need to keep an eye for each other. I have a bad feeling that it has something to do with the dreams I had last year. You-know-who isn't done with us. I still get this feeling he wants one of us so he can win. No matter how much you two don't like each other, we need to have each other's backs. All of us." I look between the two, who seem to nod at the same time. Parker gives Ethan a glare but nods her head anyway.
I watch Moody walk past us, his mechanical eye watching us as he does. Then it hits me. That's not actually Moody. That's Barty Crouch Jr. and he was the one who put Harry's name in the goblet of fire. What if he tries to put one of our names?