Star-Crossed

Chapter Forty-Five: The Interrogation of Draco Malfoy

"Harry?" the disguised version of Ron asked, but his voice didn't match Crabbe at all. It was still his voice. "Natalie? S'at you?"

Harry, now as Goyle replied in tandem with me. "Ron?"

"Bloody hell." Ron's voice uttered in complete shock.

Dahlia's stark laughter was enough to shock us back into reality for a moment. "Woah, I can't believe it actually worked."

"But we still sound like ourselves." I noted, despite looking like each of the people we'd decided to play as, we needed to sound like them as well.

Harry nodded. "You need to sound more like Crabbe." He pointed to Ron, who immediately raised a brow.

He cleared his throat and then spoke again, trying to make his voice deeper. "uhh...bloody hell?"

"Excellent." He then turned to me, "I'm not sure what this Astoria sounds like."

"Psh." Dahlia scoffed, stealing my attention. "Snobby and like a total priss. Just lay it on, Nat, I know you can do it." She winked in my direction and I nodded, trying to find that Slytherin swagger somewhere deep in my skin.

With a roll of my shoulders and a lift of my chin, I might have found it. A boundless confidence washed over me, or was it perhaps arrogance. I felt like I was replicating the smooth, calculating, spearing stare of the grey-green eyed Malfoy sister.

"How's this?" I spoke, my voice sharp as a razor blade.

"Hmm" Doll hummed, "You look like my Auntie Seraphina. Sound like her too."

"Is that good?" I reverted back to my usual stance and tone and Dahlia chuckled.

"She was Slytherin's queen bee back in the day, so yeah, I suppose." She shrugged.

I nodded, pleased with myself. "Alright, then we're ready to go, right?"
"Wait," Harry stopped as Ron turned around, looking back towards the stalls. All four of us realised someone was still missing from our ranks.

"Where's Hermione?" The Weasley asked.

"I-I'm not going!" She shouted, her voice echoing from the stall she'd pushed into earlier. "You go on without me."

"Min, you okay?" I called to her, worry edging my voice.

Dahlia glanced at us and quickly ushered us out, "Go, go. You've only got an hour, remember? I'll check on her."

"She's right, go! You're wasting time!" Hermione bellowed at us.

We all muttered our agreements and retreated from the lavatory as the sun began to set outside of the window.

"Come on," Harry was urging as we raced down the hall in the direction of the dungeons.

_

A little bit later on the three of us were walking down a staircase through one of the corridors down into the dungeons.

"I think the Slytherin common room's this way." Harry decided, pointing the way.

I nodded as Ron replied, "Okay."

But to our dismay, Ron's oldest present brother, Percy rounded the lower corner of the stairs just as we were coming off of them.

"Excuse me." His eyes narrowed and he called out as soon as he caught sight of us. We froze, almost expecting him to call out our real names, terrified we'd been caught. Until we remembered, we weren't us anymore... at least for as long as the potion lasted.