The Depth of Deception // H. Potter

ii. the hogwarts express

Draco walked closely behind Narcissa as Amara walked behind Draco. Narcissa was careful, looking at everything and everyone as she walked. Amara and Draco knew that they had to be this way, to protect themselves. With Lucius in Azkaban after the events at the Department of Mysteries, they were on their own for now.

Amara felt eyes on her back, and whispered to Draco. He seemed far too nervous to hear her, so Amara ignored it as well, hoping it would go away.

The three kept walking into the darkened alleys of Knockturn Alley, where the alleys were littered with terrifying posters of one well-known death eater and werewolf; Fenrir Greyback. Amara shivered at the mugshot of the evil man. Draco urged his sister along, and he too was shaken by the man's eery face.

They had finally arrived at Borgin & Burke; the place in which was said to have dark objects with powerful capabilities. Narcissa had hoped they would have something that could aid Draco in his task. 

Amara kept a close eye on anyone who seemed to see the three, but it seemed no one had been following.

As they explored the shop, a particular object caught Draco's eye; a vanishing cabinet. Amara began to inspect the object, wandering if it had a pair. Narcissa inspected it, and encouraged Draco to open the cabinet.

"We'll take it."

~X~

The Hogwarts Express had left platform 9 3/4 as the group of friends sat neatly in their seats. Blaise Zabini sat next to Amara while Draco and Pansy Parkinson sat just across from them. Draco's face seemed sunken, like he hadn['t slept very well in a few days. Amara knew the reason why, but didn't dare bring up the subject.

Draco looked nervous, and Amara knew why. Not only were the Malfoy twins sporting Dark Marks under their long-sleeved shirts, they were also ridden with dark tasks. Though Amara's was not directly murder, she knew that Draco's task was. 

Before Amara could say anything, the train car was filled with black smoke. Amara coughed and waived her hands in front of her face to try to clear the air. After a few moments of coughing and waiving, the smoke dissipated. 

"What was that?" Draco rolled his eyes angrily. Pansy looked at him worriedly, but Draco shrugged her off. Amara sighed.

"I don't know." Blaise spoke, looking around the train cart with a bored expression. Amara laughed, and sat comfortably in her seat.

"Relax, boys. It was probably just a first-year messing around," Pansy spoke, urging Draco to sit back down, "We'll be at Hogwarts soon." Amara watched as Draco returned to his seat and Pansy smiled.

"Hogwarts," Draco started with a scoff, "what a pathetic excuse for a school. I'd pitch myself off the Astronomy Tower if I had to continue for another two years." Amara turned her head to look at her brother, she was shocked. Draco didn't seem to care.

"What?" Amara asked in a hushed whisper, "Draco, you don't really mean that." She was worried now. She couldn't know what he was thinking, but she knew it wasn't good. She wondered about his plan for if he failed his task. Would he let Voldemort kill him or would he do it himself?

"Let's just say I don't think you'll see me wasting my time in Charms class next year." Draco spoke, glancing oddly up at the luggage rack just above their table. Amara looked at the rack, looking for anything in particular, but didn't see anything. Still, a funny feeling remained in her stomach. 

She'd have to figure out why.

~X~

As the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogwarts, everyone jumped up and began to gather their things. Draco, however, seemed to have a different plan. 

"You three go on. I want to check something." Draco urged for Pansy, Amara, and Blaise to leave the train without him. Amara just stared at her brother.

"Draco-" Amara started to protest, but Draco stopped her. He seemed very agitated, but she knew it wasn't exactly her fault.

"Amara, I'll meet you in the Great Hall," Draco spoke, walking towards his sister and placing a hand on her cheek, "I promise." Draco looked at her, hoping this would make her leave. Luckily for Draco, she did. Unfortunately for Draco, she was stubborn. She had pretended to leave but stuck around in another train cart and eavesdropped on her brother.

"Didn't Mummy ever tell you it was rude to eavesdrop, Potter?" Draco spat, closing all of the blinds in the train cart. Amara silently gasped, nervous for Harry. After all, Harry was her task. Draco knew that, so why would he put Harry directly in harm's way?

"Petrificus totalus!" Draco casted the spell at, presumably, Harry Potter. A loud thud was heard, which made Amara's heart beat faster. Had Draco really hurt Harry?

She couldn't decipher if her fear for Harry's safety was because of the importance of her completing her task from Voldemort or if the butterflies in her stomach were to blame.

Amara thanked herself for her intuition and was glad she had stayed behind. She'd have to check on Harry after Draco left. After all, it was her duty.

"Oh," Draco started, "she was dead before you could wipe the drool off your chin." A loud crack echoed through the cart and Amara winced, recognizing that Draco had probably broken one of Harry's bones. 

"That's for my father. Enjoy your ride back to London." Draco spat angrily, and began to leave the train cart. Amara waited until she was sure he was gone before opening the train cart back up, revealing a very injured Harry Potter.

"Harry?" Amara spoke, sitting on the floor beside of Harry. He had not yet put his robes on, and was wearing a muggle shirt and jeans. Amara took note of how good he looked in the color grey. 

He groaned as he opened his eyes, revealing the young Malfoy girl. He quickly sat up and attempted to stand, but she stopped him. He didn't want her to see him as weak, so he tried his best to shield his true pain from her.

"Woah, slow down Potter. You might hurt yourself more." Amara urged for him to stay put for a while, so he could wake up first. She noticed that he had smiled at her and his face was beginning to turn a bright red color, but she blamed that on just having his nose broken.

"Yeah, I think your brother didn't care much about that." Harry spoke, grabbing his face in pain. Amara watched as he winced, and grabbed a towel from the train and held it to his nose. The blood quickly filled the towel, so Amara grabbed several more and sat them beside of Harry.

"Harry, I am so sorry," Amara apologized, moving several strands of Harry's hair from his bloody face, "I'm here now. Let's get you off this train." Amara smiled, as she took Harry's shaking hand in hers and guiding him out to the platform.

Harry's head ached badly, but he tried his best to ignore it. He had his favorite Malfoy holding his hand, and he let himself forget about her evil brother. If he wasn't in so much pain, he probably would have flirted more.

As they walked to the carts that carried students to the castle, the pair stopped and waited for Professor Flitwick to ask them their names. When he finally did, he happily led them to the final cart.

"Would you like me to fix it for you?" Amara asked the half-blood, "Your nose, I mean." Amara blushed, holding out her wand. Harry gulped and adjusted his clothes uncomfortably.

"Well, have you ever fixed a nose before?" Harry asked her, nervously watching her wand. Amara was careful to not scare him any more than he already was.

"Yes, several," Amara laughed, "All of them were Draco's." Amara looked at Harry, who seemed to release some of his pent-up tension. He liked knowing that she had broken Draco's nose before, it somehow comforted him to know that maybe she hated him as much as Harry did.

"That's good to know," Harry laughed, "Okay. Give it a go." Harry stood as straight as he could, readying himself for the pain.

"Episkey." Amara casted the spell, and a loud crack was emitted from Harry's nose. He yelped in pain, slightly falling as he did so. Amara was quick to catch him and helped him regain his balance.

"How do I look?" Harry asked, as he breathed a bit heavy. Amara gave it no thought, as she answered his question without hesitation.

"Fantastic."