Where Your Loyalties Lie

Chapter Fifty-Six: Nightmares on Christmas

I was back on the edge of the Astronomy Tower on the day I ran away from Dad during Prefect duties. Draco came up the stairs just like before, but I didn't turn around to look at him this time. Silently he walked over to me and put a hand on one of my shoulders. The touch was of someone unfamiliar, this wasn't Draco. Then the unknown individual spoke, making his identity clear to me, Voldemort.

"Thisss can all end you know. You jussst have to jump, it won't hurt at all. All this pain and stresss will sssslip away," Voldemort hissed.

Shaking my head, I stuttered, "N-n-no."

"Oh come on, Katie. He lied to you. He kept sssecretsss from you. Wouldn't the ultimate revenge be to jump right here, right now?" I shook my head; my body began to shake in fear of having him this close to me. I felt his hand slide down to the small of my back, giving me a little shove that caused me to tumble over the edge. I screamed as I fell down, the last thing I saw was Voldemort standing in the tower, laughing maliciously.

I woke up, jerking upright and gasping. My body was shaking and my palms were sweaty. Leaning forward, I rested my face into my hands and started crying. It felt so real. Looking over at Maddie's bed, I found her sound asleep, not even bothered by my distressed tones. It was still too early to get up, possibly three in the morning. At the foot of my bed was a pile of packages, it was Christmas morning.

If I got up now, I could take a nice, long shower, possibly for an hour. Hopefully that would make me feel better. I was too terrified to fall back asleep.

Feeling the urge to sing while in the shower, I managed to compromise to humming softly so Maddie wouldn't wake up. When I finally convinced myself to get out of the hot water, I took my time drying myself off and combing my hair out. The steam on the mirror faded away and I stood in front of it, observing myself. There were dark circles under my eyes, this was one of many consecutive nights of having a nightmare in which Draco, Dad or I was killed or hurt. To be perfectly honest, I looked like Hell. However, although it was weird to think of it, I did notice I've grown more in the past years. I was no longer a little kid, I was a woman. In a little over half a year I would be a legal adult in the Wizarding World.

Wrapping a towel around me, I went to go get clothes out of my trunk, because I had forgotten to get some before taking my shower. Glancing at the clock, I saw it was 4:30. Heading back into the bathroom, I changed into comfy, yet cute, clothes that were fitting for the holiday. I completely ignored the makeup and stuffed my hair into a messy braid that didn't help my "damaged look" my eyes already gave me. The only jewelry I put on was my locket I had received from Dad for a past Christmas, but I managed to convince myself to at least spritz on some of my perfume.

Eventually Maddie got up and we both opened our presents. Just as we got done, there was a knock on the door. Maddie answered it and in came Blaise and Draco. "Merry Christmas, ladies!" Blaise greeted. "Shall we go to breakfast?" Maddie and I stood up and followed them down to breakfast. Afterwards, Draco pulled me to the side to ask if I would like to come with him to the Room of Requirement.

"Today? Draco, it's Christmas!" I told him.

"I know, love, but I need to work on it. My life is at risk here!"

"I know," I looked down. He lifted my chin up. Maybe it was the way the light hit my face that he could see how bad I looked today, but he gave in.

"Alright, I'll come back to the common room with you," he sighed.

"Thank you!" I smiled and kissed his cheek.

Our foursome spent the morning in the common room like we used to in the years before. After lunch, we came back to hang out some more. Resting my head on Draco's shoulder, that's when I began to doze off. I shifted so I was laying my head on his lap instead to make it more comfortable before falling asleep.