𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑 || H.P

𝟑𝟐

Harry asked me to meet him in his dorm after his quidditch practice. For studying purposes, of course. 

He wasn't in there when I arrived; no one was. The room was left vacant, even the common room only had a few second years practicing charms. Most of the beds were unmade and messy, but Harry's was perfectly done.

I walked over to his nightstand where a few papers a books were stacked on top of each other. There was one piece of parchment that caught my eye.

It was completely empty. I assumed he was going to use it to write things down, but it unfolded like a map. Suddenly, words began to appear in front of me.

'Messrs Wormtail would like Alicia Shallow to stop budding her nose into our business.'

"What kind of name is Wormtail?" I scrunched my nose and put the parchment down. "It's probably a toy from Zonkos."

There was another book hidden behind the stack; the Advanced Potions book. It was wrong to look through his stuff, I knew that, but why hide a perfectly good Potions book? It looked normal, everything was normal.

Except the inside.

Most of everything was scribbled out, at first, I found it difficult to read. Then, I realized that the scribbles were more like modifications. I flipped back to the first page. 

'Property of the Half Blood Prince.'

"Half Blood Prince? Who's that? These people have some weird names-"

There was a sudden knock from the bathroom door, which progressively got louder every second that passed by. I found myself now on the edge of Harry's bed, startled by the noise. 

There was someone in there the entire time?

"Oi! Can anyone get my shirt for me? Ron? Anyone?"

It was Harry.

I scrambled to my feet and put the annotated Potions book back where it was. My first instinct was to run out of the room, but the bathroom door swung open before I could get the chance to think.

"You lot are bloody deaf-" His face dropped when he saw me standing in the middle of the room; my eyes widened when I saw him, with just a towel around his waist. We didn't say anything, just stared.

His hair was still wet from his shower, messily falling in front of his eyes. He left his glasses desserted; I hadn't realize they were on the sitting beside him until now. His chest was slightly toned and I found it difficult to look away.

"I didn't think you'd be here this early," he said awkwardly. 

I forced my eyes away from his chest and looked at his face. He still seemed to be in shock. "Well it's after Quidditch practice... the last time I checked."

"Right, yeah, you're right."

I wanted to break the silence very badly, but all I could come up with was, "your friend, Granger, she let me in, if you were wondering."

The tranquility was making me uncomfortable, but he merely nodded and started walking towards me. I froze, mostly anxious to see what he would do next.

He stopped before me and reached his arm out to grab something from his bed. "My clothes, they were right behind you." He held up his shirt.

"Oh- I'm sorry, I didn't realize." 

He stared at me for a moment longer, then, as if coming to his senses, he shot me a quick smile and went back into the bathroom.

Holy shit.

-

Our time was mostly spent making small talk, since we both found it quite awkward to do anything more. Harry was now clothed, but his hair was still ruffled and stuck out in different directions. 

"Why were you out that night, when you found me?" I asked. 

"I'm sure I told you."

"Even if you did, I wouldn't remember. The only thing I remember is-" We looked at each other, I swallowed nervously. "Well, that doesn't matter."

He nodded knowingly. "Dumbledore needed me."

A smirk appeared on my face. "Dumbledore kept you out past curfew?"

"Alright, alright, you want the truth?" He shook his head in disappointment. "Yes, I needed to see Dumbledore, but then, I went looking for Malfoy."

I raised my eyebrows, still smiling. "Oh?"

"I know how that sounds, but I'm sure you've noticed his absence as well. When was the last time you saw him in your common room?"

I considered this for a moment. "Yeah he's been acting weird, but c'mon, it can't be that bad."

"There's a war going on, Alicia." I noticed that he said my first name, but pushed it away. "Anything can be bad."

"What are you saying? Malfoy's gonna be some sort of threat?"

"I'm saying Malfoy could be a death eater."

I awestruck by the abruptness of his comment. My jaw dropped, but I couldn't hold in my laughter. "Are we thinking about the same Draco Malfoy? The one who was turned into a ferret!?"

Harry sighed and crossed his arms. "Laugh all you want, but it's completely possible."

I tried my best to keep a straight face; it was topics like these that I hated the most. I heard enough about them back home during holidays. Harry was right, it was possible, but I didn't want to believe it. Why would Voldemort recruit someone so young? 

I didn't want to dwell on it any longer. "We should start studying."