08. mixed signals

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A M I R A  H A Y E S
September 22nd, 1994

WE STORM BACK into the  Gryffindor common room, Harry pulls the invisibility cloak off of us and tosses it onto the carpet.  The house has always welcomed me here, with no hesitation, but at this time it's mainly empty, most of the students settled in their dorm rooms for the night, all except for Hermione and Ron. Harry is pacing back and forth, and my hands are covering my mouth, I'm at a loss for words. Hermione is sitting on the couch alongside Ron, looking concerned.

In the evening, after I changed into a black turtleneck  shirt, Harry and I followed Hagrid into the forest, as instructed, kept hidden under his cloak. But what we saw was not nearly what I expected. I imagined a difficult obstacle course or a magic puzzle, but no. Fire breathing fucking dragons, tied on leashes. That's the first task. There are five of them, one for each of us. 

Hermione stands up off the couch urgently.

"What is it? What did you see?" She asks.

I remove my hands from my face.

"Dragons." My voice cracks a bit.

I watch her blink several times in disbelief, leading up to a chuckle.

"Yeah terribly funny. Tell me will you?" Hermione crosses her arms across her chest.

"No Hermione, It's Dragons. Huge, fire breathing, dragons." I say, nearly trembling.

The room goes silent for a moment, until Hermione speaks again.

"Are they trying to get you all killed?!"

"Clearly." Harry finally speaks.

I sit down on the couch beside Ron with my head in my hands.

"What are we supposed to do now? I mean- we're completely fucked!" I slash my hand through the air while speaking in a rushed tone.

Hermione grabs one of her spell books from the table, opening it and flipping through a few pages.

"Why would there be dragons involved? Are you running from them? Killing them?" She speaks the last part coldly.

Hermione has never enjoyed the idea of harming animals, or house elves. I wouldn't particularly be comfortable with killing the dragons, even if all the tri-wizards are obliged to.

I turn to her and shrug.

"I don't know. I just need some time to think." Harry heads up the stone stairs, I don't attempt to stop him in doing so.

Silence emits into the space after Harry's dismissal. No one knows what to say, no one knows what to think. Hermione is settled back down onto the couch, her eyes squinted in that bewildered sort, Ron is stroking Crookshanks' head who is curled up in his lap, most likely trying to avoid the situation entirely. He's still being stubborn about Harry. I almost let fear overcome me, let it rise up my body and consume my nerves. I don't have the time to be scared.

"Where should I start?" I ask Hermione, who gazes up at me in confusion.


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𝐓𝐎𝐗𝐈𝐂 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ─ draco malfoyWhere stories live. Discover now