Summer Holiday

Chapter 16

Sophie sat with the Daily Prophet still clutched in her hand as her heart beat sped up and her stomach tied itself in knots. A light tapping came at the door causing her to jump and rattle the paper in her hands. She let out a sigh and spoke. "Who is it?"

"Master Black wants me to inform Ms. Verilia dinner is ready." Kreacher croaked from the other side of the door.

"Thank you Kreacher. I'll be down shortly." Sophie called back.

She waited until she heard Kreachers footsteps disappear before frantically shuffling all the newspapers into a neat pile. The Daily Prophet containing the article of interest was placed carefully into one of her desk drawers. Hopefully Sirius wouldn't notice its absence.

When she arrived to the kitchen, Sirius and Draco were already seated with food in front of them. Sophie took a seat next to Draco trying to appear casual.

"How's the reading going?" Sirius asked nonchalantly as he took another bite of food.

Draco glanced sideways at Sophie as she choked slightly on her food. "Good. Very good." She cleared her throat and turned her gaze to her plate of food.

"Glad to hear it, and Draco, what have you been up to recently?" Sirius asked.

Draco's lips were forming a scowl as he stared at Sirius. "Absolutely nothing in this bloody place." He spat.

Sirius chuckled and wiped his mouth with his napkin. "That's exactly how I felt the first few weeks I was here."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Draco remarked lazily.

"Not at all. Sometimes it's just nice to share an experience with someone." Sirius spoke kindly.

"We are nothing alike." Draco spat through clenched teeth.

"I think we are more alike than you'd like to admit." Sirius challenged.

Draco clenched his jaw and flared his nostrils as he felt himself growing angrier. The chair made a disrupting noise as Draco slid the chair out from the table and placed his hands on the table.

"Draco, dinner is not over yet. You may not leave." Sirius said calmly.

The room was tense as the three of them sat at the table. Sophie had her head down and was trying her best not to look up at Sirius or Draco. Draco kept eye contact with Sirius as he picked up his fork and shoved a bite of food into his mouth.

The rest of dinner was uncomfortable for Sophie. Nobody spoke a word for the rest of the meal, and Sophie just wanted to get back to her bedroom and away from Draco. She was slightly nervous to find out what he was capable of if he became truly angry. When dinner finally ended Sophie scurried away and to her bedroom.

The rest of the evening Sophie spent at the window seat watching the sun slowly set. It reminded her of the sunsets she used to watch with Theo at the pier at Hogwarts. She thought about Theo a lot, and constantly hoped that he would make it through the summer unscathed. She knew his family situation was less than ideal and she worried about him.

She gazed longingly out the window until her plan she had abandoned snapped back into her mind.

The water pitcher

Finding out why Draco was wanted by the Ministry could be useful. If she could get the information to Theo he could possibly use it for something important.

She swiftly jumped up from the window seat and headed for the kitchen. Even though she was worried about the kind of reaction she could possible evoke from Draco, she needed to know the truth.