Chapter 7

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The new term started, and Alice was ecstatic for her friends' return. Although the start of the classes had made her pretty busy, Alice still managed to devour the book she had gotten for Christmas. She got her hands on it at any spare moment she had, as she couldn't stop reading it. She'd found a little spot, a not often frequented corridor, secondary to the one that lead to the Clock Tower Courtyard. It was always quiet there, and Alice had become fond of sitting in the frame of the galleries whenever she wanted time for herself. This time, she had decided to go there during her free period before Charm lesson, and she was so absorbed in her reading that she didn't anticipate the smug voice that interrupted her.

"You're going to eat the book if you get it any closer to your face." Of course, it was Malfoy, who didn't sit down next to her, but instead leaned against one of the gallery's walls.

"Sorry, I haven't been able to put it down." Alice said with a small chuckle as she marked the page in her book and closed it.

"I'd say you liked it." He nodded, his smug smirk growing bigger. "You must be really grateful to whoever gave it to you."

"Oh, yes." Now Alice couldn't hold back a smile. To her, that was enough proof to know who had given her the present. She already had her suspicions, and after asking all of her friends if they knew anything – which they disproved – there was really nothing else to think about. "It's a shame it was an anonymous gift."

"Don't you have class now?" He asked, in an unusual nice tone.

"Yeah, Charms in fifteen minutes." Alice said as she put the book on her bag and remembered how secluded she was from the classroom. "I'd better get going... What are you doing?" She gazed at Draco with a suspicious look after she saw he was walking behind her.

"Walking you to class." He said, plain and simple. "It's the least you can let me do since you stood me up on the Hogsmeade visit."

"I never agreed to that." She tried to hide it, but she felt bad not saying anything to him about it. They both walked to the Sundial Garden, since circling the castle to the next entrance was much quicker than going through the Grand Staircase. While strolling by the Sundial Garden, they noticed someone getting out of Hagrid's hut, who was then followed by Hagrid himself. "Hagrid's back?"

"Looks like it." And not only Hagrid was, but also Buckbeak, which was tied to its neck to a wooden pole close to Hagrid's pumpkin patch. Alice knew that things hadn't turned out well if Buckbeak was being kept close to the castle instead of its habitual paddock. Then a man with a scythe came out of Hagrid's hut and her theory was confirmed. Draco grabbed Alice by the arm and pulled her with him. "Let's get closer."

"Oh, no..." She said, trying to let go. "I don't want to see how they kill Buckbeak, Draco. It's just too horrible."

Malfoy didn't have any time to reply to that since a yelp directed at him made the two young teens turn around.

𝐂 𝐔 𝐑 𝐒 𝐄 𝐃 🐍 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒐 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒇𝒐𝒚Where stories live. Discover now