Forget about me

Chapter nine

Alexandra

"He's going to need a name, you know." Jem states from his place behind the wheel. Tucked into the corner of one of the backseats I'm playing with the dirty white little ball in my lap. The kitten is so adorable I feel like I might combust with his cuteness. It is a boy. I checked earlier when I had nothing to call the little animal and calling it thing, like Ryder does, is not okay. It's a living breathing creature not a thing.

Humming to the kitten I brainstorm some names out loud seeing if anything sticks. "Ace?" no. "Bandit?" the kitten sinks its tiny fangs into my finger. I'll take that as a no. "Spades?" he bites down harder. "Ow, okay I get it." I tell him trying to extract my finger from his mouth. "Hmmm. Boggart?" laughing I shake my head at myself. "No, that's not it. Come on buddy help me out here." Kitten only blinks at me. Sighing I look to the front of the car where Hunter reaches forward to change the radio channel. My gaze lands on the word tattooed on his right wrist. The same one sitting on the side of my ribs.

Always.

We got the tattoo because of Severus Snape. Well, not him but his quote. I used to read the Potter books to the boys. I stole the first one from a bookstore randomly one day and fell in love with the story. For a couple of hours, I could escape from my sorry ass life and into Harry's. I couldn't stop talking about it and after some convincing got the boys to read the first book. The boys gave me the rest of the series for my next birthday. And I read the rest of the books to them. Jem loved the Weasley twins. Hunter thought Snape should be fired and Ryder thought Dumbledore was the real villain. Shade had a crush on Ginny and came to pity the Slytherins as the story went on. I fell in love with Hermione, Luna and had a crush on a certain blonde. When the movies came out, we snuck into the theatre to see them. Looking down at the blue eyed white haired little thing in my lap it reminded me of that blonde boy being turned into a ferret. "Draco or maybe just Malfoy?" the kitten meows in what I believe sounds a lot like "finally." I scratch his belly and grin at him. "Alright then, Draco Malfoy it is."

"You're not still obsessed with that guy, right?" Jem raises an eyebrow at me watching in the rear-view mirror.

"Draco Malfoy is not just some guy." I snap at him my eyes still glued on the flurry creature wiggling in my lap.

"No, he's a bully." Hunter drawls his gaze glued on the world outside the window. He's clearly pissed at me for running, but what did he expect. I've been clear that I have no intentions of staying in their house. It shouldn't really come as a surprise that when an opportunity to get out of there walked through the front door, I took it.

"He's the result of his surroundings and parents. Draco's the boy without a choice. Just because Harry's backstory is tragic and he came out the hero doesn't mean that others, like the children of death eaters, didn't have it just as bad or worse." Glaring at him from beneath my lashes my hand stills on little Darco's stomach. His paws nudge my hand in an attempt to get it moving again.

"We already know you don't like ferret boy and she's in love with him. Can we please not repeat the same discussion that we had ten years ago. More than once." Jem pleads somewhat exasperated. Hunter's scowl deepens as I scoff and return my attention to Mr. Malfoy. Petting him in an absent-minded way, I repeat what my little escape taught me today. Wolves had been out on the streets searching even before we reached Maddie's apartment. I'm guessing any busses out of town was stopped and searched. If I'm going to escape, I'll need a head start. Do it sometime when it'll be a few hours before they notice I'm gone. My biggest issue at the moment though is to figure out how to find the treasure without them finding it too.

The gate closes behind us shutting the world out. Locking me into their gilded cage once more. Only car doors slamming breaks the silence hanging over us. Ryder stalks out of the garage leaving the rest of us to follow. Hunter and Jem fall behind me, like prison guards escorting a prisoner, ushering me toward the door. I don't spot Ryder anywhere as we enter the main space. A crash from outside draws me toward the deck where Shade is standing, arms crossed and face solemn.