|| Star-Crossed ||

3

What's Life Without A Little Risk?

CAROLINE POTTER

Ever since Harry and Mr. Weasley walked out the door early this morning, I haven't stopped pacing. Hermione and Ginny were sitting with me, trying to keep me calm but frankly, it's not working. "Bloody hell, will you quit the pacing!" Ron shouted as he walked in the door. "Leave her alone, Ronald." Hermione snapped. "Yeah, how would you feel if you were her?" Ginny added. He plopped down on the chair and sighed. "I'm sorry, C. But worrying isn't going to help anything. There's nothing you can do so you should just try to relax." he said. I rolled my eyes and kept pacing. "Why don't you try to eat something? That always helps me." he suggested. "Oh, we know." Ginny teased. He scoffed. "I'm serious, mum made breakfast. Let's go." he said. "I'm not hungry." I said. "Too bad, you need to eat." Fred said. I gasped as he appeared behind me. "Sorry to startle you love" George said and I jumped again as he popped in. "Would you quit it with the unnecessary apparition?!" I exclaimed. They just laughed and we all started to walk downstairs. We went into the kitchen and it smelled amazing. "Finally! Breakfast was getting cold." Molly said with a smile. We sat down and she served us bacon, sausage, and cinnamon bun with pumpkin juice. "This is delicious, as always. Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." I said. "Of course dear, I'm glad you enjoyed it. " she said. I nodded. "I did." I said as I smiled.

A few hours later, I heard the front door open. I ran down the stairs faster than I ever have. I hugged Harry and he hugged me back. "It's ok, C. I'm not expelled." he said. I sighed in relief and he chuckled. "Breathe. It's over. Everythings fine." he said. I nodded. "Dumbledore fixed it all," he said. "Good, that's good." I said. He nodded. "Come on, everyone will want to know exactly what happened." I said. We walked upstairs and sat down with our friends...

THE NEXT DAY

I was so excited to finally be going back to Hogwarts. Harry and I walked through Kings Cross Station and suddenly, we saw a big black dog. Sirius. "Sirius, are you barking mad?! You'll blow this entire operation!" Moody exclaimed. I chuckled as we followed him into an empty room. "Sirius, what are you doing here?" Harry asked. "Well, I had to see my godchildren off," he said. "What if you get caught? You can't go back to Azkaban." I said. He scoffed. "What's life without a little risk?" he said. Harry and I smiled and sat down with him. "Anyway..." he said, pulling something out of his coat pocket. "I wanted to give this to you two." he said. He held out a photo and Harry and I looked at it. I immediately recognized my mother and father. "That's our mum and dad." I said softly. He nodded. "The Original Order of the Phoenix." he said. He showed us all the members. Even Neville's parents. "Not a day goes by that I don't miss your dad." he said. "Me too." I said. He nodded. "Do you really think there's going to be a war, Sirius?" Harry asked. "It feels like it did before," he said hesitantly. We just nodded. Then he sighed and clasped his hands together. "Anyway, I suppose you're the young ones now," he said. "I reckon so." I said. I never thought I'd be fighting a war at 16.

Then we said our goodbyes and got on the train.

"You go find Hermione and Ron. I'm going to go look for Max." I said. "Ok, tell him I said hi." Harry said. "You can tell him yourself, you know," I suggested. Harry stopped. "He doesn't want to see me, Caroline." Harry replied. "He doesn't blame you for what happened. I don't know why you think he does." I said. "Just go Caroline. The train will be moving soon." he said and he quickly walked off. I sighed and started walking down the aisle looking in each cabin. Then I heard a shrieking voice. Pansy.

"No room for the filthy mudblood here!" a voice spat. "Please, just let me through." someone said. "Or what?" they continued. "I don't want trouble." the voice said. "How could you possibly be a Slytherin? You are pathetic." another voice added. I quickly walked over and my blood boiled at the sight. I saw Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy. And they had Sara Fraser, a 4th year, cornered. I drew my wand and walked towards them. "Leave her alone, Malfoy," I said. They all turned around and I saw Malfoy smirk at me. "Ah, Hello Line" he said. "That's not my name." I snapped. "It's not? Oh. My mistake." he taunted. "I don't have time for this, can't you get over your big bad bully phase already? It's getting rather old." I said. He rolled his eyes. "Me? Getting old? What about the whole 'Gryffindor princess coming to save the mudblood' phase. Now that's predictable." he said. "Almost as predictable as your daddy issues." I snapped. "At least I have a father," he spat. I clenched my fists and rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'm sure he's very proud of you. 4 against 1. How very brave." I said. "Oh, well we aren't Gryffindors so we don't need to be brave," he replied. "Right, I guess I got confused because somehow I'm brave and ambitious and cunning and you, well you are a foolish coward." I spat back. He stalked towards me until my wand was pressed into his chest. "You really shouldn't speak to me that way." he said with darkness in his voice. "Funny, I was about to say that you shouldn't speak at all." I replied with a smirk. He just gave me a smug grin. "You just don't know when to quit, do you, Line?" he asked. "Nope, I'm all sorts of stubborn." I replied. He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You know what, fine. We'll find some other source of entertainment." he said. "Good. Sara, come here." I said. She stared at me in shock. "Sara," I said again. She quickly walked over and we walked away.

"Thank you." she said quietly. I shrugged. "Malfoy's a dick. I actually found great fun in that." I said. She laughed. "Where are your friends?" I asked. "I don't know. I was looking for them when they stopped me." she said. "Ok, well I will help you find them," I said. She smiled. "Thanks" she said. "No problem." I replied. We searched the cabins until I found her friends. I left her with them and went to look for Max again. I got to the very last cabin on the train and opened the door.

"Bloody hell, I've been looking everywhere for you." I exclaimed. He sat alone, reading a book. "Well, you found me," he said. I walked in and shut the door. I opened my mouth to speak and he stopped me. "Don't." he said. "What?" I asked. "Don't ask how I'm doing. It's a stupid question and I don't want to answer it." he said. I nodded. "I missed you." I said with a small smile. He looked at me and a smile formed. "I missed you too, Caz." he said.
It's good to be back.