Dark Magic

Fear

Snape was right, as much as I hated to admit it to myself. With the gift of his potion, came the unfortunate news I had been denying myself to admit; I needed to let the thoughts in; to stop fighting them. And so, I chose to completely ignore the advice, readying myself for the day as per normal. Only, I knew that the inevitable had now arrived. For Thursdays were both Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Tucking a loose strand of, a now slightly darker red, hair behind my ear; I made my way to The Great Hall for the first time in nearly a week. Draco looked a little surprised by my appearance, but invited me to join him nonetheless.

It was his first day back actually attending classes since the accident, and an investigation was taking place on behalf of his father and the Ministry regarding the safety of students in Hagrid's classes. I didn't fully understand what had happened, but Harry and the other Gryffindor's insisted Draco agitated the Hippogriff, resulting in his accident. All I could hope for, was that Hagrid got to keep his position as Care for Magical Creatures' Professor.

"Pomfrey isn't, technically, discharging me from the hospital until eleven. Did you want to skip some of Potions and go for a walk around the school grounds?" He smirked. I scoffed, shaking my head towards him in disbelief, "Are you mad!? Snape will have our heads if he finds out!"

Draco sighed, continuing to protest, "He won't! Oh, come on, Potter! Live a little." His words stuck with me; Live a little. I relaxed for a moment, allowing his thoughts to slowly drift into my mind like a boat on a peaceful lake. His mind begged me to go, 'Please, Em,' it said. And after a few moments of deliberation, I finally nodded. "Fine. But if we get caught, I'm blaming you."

***

Draco walked me around a part of the castle grounds I hadn't yet explored. It was easier to focus on his mind alone, as I allowed his thoughts to breach my own, alleviating the headache, for I had refused to drink the potion the night before. His thoughts were nothing other than friendly; Draco was a nice boy, I knew that much.

But something pained him. I could barely make out sentences from his surface thoughts-only there were other, deeper, thoughts that I couldn't quite reach yet. Snape was right, I needed to let them in...And Draco was helping me do so, as unaware as he was of his aid...

We soon passed an old willow tree, and I made a mental note to take a book there one day. Although I had, somewhat, overcame my fear of The Black Lake, it did give me some discomfort. Mornings in the Slytherin common room were spent with the curtains closed; a spell our Head Boy, Bartholomew Bulstrode, had cast after his younger sister informed him of my accident.

If I knew one thing about Slytherin's, they stuck together. The fact that I was Harry Potter's sister did not seem to bother them at all. If anything, they liked me more because of it; choosing to ignore my half-muggle blood.

Draco was a nice person to talk to; he spoke a great deal about his mother, Narcissa. Not so much about his father. And each time he was mentioned, a grey cloud caused Draco's thoughts to become muffled; a deeper thought, I realised. And not a positive one, at that. Before we knew it, 11 o'clock had arrived. It was time to face the music.

As we stepped into the classroom in the Dungeons, Snape's attention diverted onto us both. "And why, prey tell, are you both late to my class?" I avoided his gaze, feeling my anger begin to boil within me. "Madam Pomfrey had to discharge me from the hospital wing, Professor. She asked that Emerald stayed with me and walked me to class."

"Very well. Mr Malfoy, you can sit with Weasley and Mr Potter. Miss Potter, you can sit with Granger and Longbottom. Weasley, Potter; prepare Mr Malfoy's ingredients for him." Snape ordered sternly as I found myself forgetting, momentarily, of Draco's injury. It had almost healed now; he truly was milking it.