Work of Karma || Cedric Diggory [2]

Chapter 10: Christmas Confessions

"Unbreakable Vow."

The landscapes they rode past in the Hogwarts Express were white and frozen, and the air was cold enough to fog up the windows of the train on the way from the castle back to Platform 9 3/4 for the holidays. The weather aligned just perfectly with the chill that ran down Analeigh's spine at the two words Harry uttered as he recounted the events after Draco Malfoy gate crashed Slughorn's Christmas Party and was escorted out by none other than Professor Snape.

"You sure that's what Snape said?" Ron said hesitantly.

"Positive. Why?"

"Are you completely sure? Like, Snape definitely offered to help him?" Analeigh clarified.

"Yes, Leigh," Harry huffed, extending his legs on the empty seat and leaning against the wall. "It's exactly as I said: Snape said he swore to Malfoy's mother to protect him, then Malfoy said he didn't need it because he was chosen for the task. Malfoy sounded really agitated, too — or maybe he was annoyed that Snape didn't think he was capable of whatever's going on."

Analeigh and Ron, who sat next to one another, exchanged uneasy looks at that and let a tense silence fall over them. The only sound that broke it came from Analeigh's cat, Velvet, who purred contentedly as she curled up beside her owner's legs to sleep.

This didn't go unnoticed by Harry. Impatiently, he said, "What? Why are you two looking at each other like that?"

"It's just, you can't break an Unbreakable Vow," said Ron.

"I worked that much out for myself, funnily enough."

"You don't understand. Breaking a vow like that is..." Analeigh trailed off when a movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. She glanced to the side and had to suppress a groan when she spotted the lovestruck Gryffindor girl standing right outside their compartment. With a sigh, she elbowed Ron sharply to the ribs.

"Hey, what —" he began, halting when Analeigh tilted her head towards the door. "Oh, bloody hell."

Lavender Brown visibly brightened up when she finally met Ron's eyes, even bouncing on the balls of feet excitedly. She calmed down after a moment, inhaled deeply, and let out a long breath that fogged up the glass window. She started drawing a large heart, following it up by writing R + L in the center. Analeigh, Harry, and Ron waited awkwardly as Lavender finished off her drawing by adding an arrow through the heart along with small lines on the sides to emphasize the heart. Whereas Analeigh kept flitting her eyes back and forth from Lavender and to the view of the countryside, Harry couldn't even watch at all. He resorted to fiddling with the pages of his Advanced Potion Making book previously owned by the still-mysterious Half-Blood Prince, as well as playing with his seat's arm rest like a bored child.

At long last, Lavender was done. She let out another hot breath to let her artwork stand out, and all Ron could do was force out a smile.

"I miss you," said Lavender wistfully, her voice slightly muffled from behind the door. She sent one last longing look at Ron before taking her leave, presumably to find Parvati Patil and her other close friends.