Sincerely, Yours (Draco Malfoy X Reader)

Chapter 1 ~ The Hogwarts Express

A voice echoed, "Don't open your eyes," Y/n shifted in and out of consciousness, blackness fading into unfocused vision. Suddenly, she awoke, frightened, and brought her arms in front of her defensively. She felt calm, knowing she was on the Hogwarts Express, headed to Hogwarts for her third year. "Let me get this straight. Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban? To come after you?" Ron whispered to Harry, leaning forward. Ron's eyes flitted over at Y/n, apologetically, knowing he had woken her up.

"They'll catch Black, won't they?" Hermione asked, closing her book. "I mean, everyone's looking for him."

Ron raised an eyebrow, Scabbers in hand. Y/n squinted at the rat, then turned to look at the unidentified stranger sitting in their compartment. They were draped in thick dark coats, covering their face, and sitting in the same position as when the four students entered the train. Y/n rubbed the sleep from her eyes,

"Sure, except no one's ever broken out of Azkaban before, and he's a murderous, raving lunatic." Ron shrugged.

Harry deadpanned, "Thanks, Ron."

Y/n sat upright stretching her arms and glanced outside the window. In the heart of the night, darkness draped itself over the once vibrant landscape, transforming the enchanting greenery and picturesque scenes into mere silhouettes. The moon, a luminescent guide in the inky expanse, cast its glow upon the small pools and lakes that shimmered like scattered diamonds under the gentle caress of the moonlight. "Looks like a storm's brewing," Y/n muttered, wincing at the sudden sound of wheels scratching on train tracks.

Panic and alarm rose in the four of them, suddenly cautious of everything around them. The train had come to an unexpected stop. Y/n remembered reading that the train did not take kindly to students who tried to leave when it was moving, implying it had some form of sentience.

Hermione shifted uncomfortably, as she looked out the window for an explanation, "Why are we stopping? We can't be there yet."

Y/n knitted her eyebrows together and placed a steady hand beside her, ready if anything happened.

In unison, Harry and Y/n rose to their feet. Harry slid the compartment door open. They looked ahead and down the corridor. Similarly, other students stuck their heads out, wondering the same thing: what on earth was going on? The train juddered, throwing Harry and Y/n back onto their seats, the compartment door sliding shut.

"What's going on?" Ron exclaimed.

Harry shrugged, "Dunno, maybe we've broken down."

Y/n, an avid reader, had read all about Hogwarts before her first year began. However, she'd never come across any mention of the Hogwarts Express breaking down. It was a surprise to her. "Surely, the Hogwarts Express doesn't just break dow-" The lights flickered off and darkness enveloped the train. "Maybe, maybe, it does" she reconsidered. There wasn't much the students could do. The only adults aboard were the driver and the Trolley Witch.

"Ouch, Ron, that was my foot!" Hermione groaned as Ron looked out the window.

"Something is moving out there. I think someone's coming on board." The train jostled again and this time Y/n let out a scared gasp.

They stood transfixed as the window facing the lake frosted over, encasing even the nearby water bottle in ice. All the glass in the train was frozen."Bloody hell. What's happening?" Y/n stared blankly at her friends' faces. She touched the glass bottle, sending shivers down her body. The bottle seemed poised to shatter at any moment. Soon, she found herself trembling uncontrollably, teeth chattering, and her breath turning into misty clouds as tiny droplets condensed around her.

The temperature was dropping by the minute, and a woolly jumper was not enough to protect against this cold. On top of it all, Y/n's heart hung heavy. An overwhelming sense of despair fell upon her. Her heart began to climb, and she was not sure if it was safer to stay in the compartment than to be outside.