Where Your Loyalties Lie

Chapter Fifty-One: Traitor

The last week of summer went by incredibly fast. When September First rolled around, Draco became very glum. The anticipation of his task weighed down on his shoulders like the hand of death. Before boarding the train at King's Cross, Narcissa gave both Draco and I hugs goodbye. "Take care of my son," Narcissa whispered in my ear as she hugged me.

"I will," I assured her before Draco and I took our place on the train. Instead of having our own private compartment, we found a table where Maddie and Blaise were already sitting in a cart full of Slytherins. "Hey guys," I greeted them. They replied with cheerful greetings, but Draco stayed quiet.

"What's wrong, mate?" Blaise asked him. He shrugged and rested his head on the table.

"Draco's just been down about his father being gone," I lied. It was silent as we pulled out of the station, beginning our journey to Hogwarts.

"Not to cause another panic attack like last year, but shouldn't you two be in the prefect's compartment?" Blaise asked Draco and I.

"We're skipping this year," I told him casually. "We know what to do so there's no point."

A short way into the train ride a kid came up to us and gave Blaise and I an invitation to something called, "The Slug Club". When we got there, we found out it was Professor Slughorn's, a new teacher, group for talented wizards or for those connected to important people. By the time we got back to our cart, we were almost at Hogwarts. Suddenly the entire cart was plunged into darkness. Draco stood up and shouted, "What was that?"

"Relax, Draco. It was probably just a first year messing around. Sit down. We'll be at Hogwarts soon," Maddie said after the darkness went away.

Draco obliged and sat down next to me again. I giggled. "What?" He asked.

"Your hair is all messy." He shrugged before laying his head in my lap. "OK, since when do you not care about your hair being messy?" He didn't answer. I pushed my wand off the seat onto the floor. "Draco, could you help me find my wand? It just dropped under the table."

"Whatever," he replied as he crawled under the table. I followed after him. When we both were crouching under there, I whacked him in the head. "Ouch!"

"What happened?" Blaise asked.

"Oh nothing, I just hit my head," Draco lied before whispering, "What was that for?"

"Stop with the attitude! I realize you have a job to do this year that has deadly consequences if you fail, but that doesn't mean you can act like this all year." He just nodded before we both sat up again. I placed my wand on the table. "Got it," I laughed. My hair got messed up so I looked towards the ceiling as I fixed it. I noticed some movement on the luggage rack but I ignored it.

Soon the train stopped as we pulled into Hogsmeade Station. Everyone besides Draco and I got up and left. Maddie and Blaise turned and looked at us when they got to the door. "You two go on. I want to check something." They shrugged before leaving us alone. Draco got up and shut all of the blinds on the windows. "Didn't Mummy ever tell you it was rude to eavesdrop, Potter?"

I stood up, staying by our table, and looked around. "Draco, what are you-"

He spun around, pulling out his wand, and yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!" I screamed and jumped back as something tumbled off the luggage rack, breaking the table before hitting the ground hard.

Draco slowly walked up to the object, pulling off an invisibility cloak to reveal Harry. "Oh yeah, she was dead before you could wipe the drool off your chin," Draco sneered. In one swift movement, he kicked Harry in the face. I could hear the sickening crack as his nose broke. Before covering him up with the invisibility cloak again, Draco said, "That's from my father. Enjoy your ride back to London." I stayed where I was as Draco grabbed his briefcase and began to walk out of the cart. "Let's go, Katie."