Out of the Shadows [Book Three]

Chapter Thirteen:

Chapter Thirteen

I stepped off of the train in Hogsmeade, my feet crunching in the snow while my nose felt like it would freeze off at any minute.  

That, I thought, is probably how the Dark Lord lost his nose.  

The air was cold and crisp, almost refreshing and I took deep breaths as I walked over to the carriages being pulled by thestrals.  I pet one, marveling in their beauty even though guilt ran through my body at the thought of why I could see them.   Shaking those thoughts from my mind, I got into the carriage and was happy to find that it was completely empty, though I knew that wouldn't last much longer.  

I expected Neville or even Ginny to find me and sit with me (because Ginny decided she'd come back with me instead of asking her mum to let her stay home) but instead Draco jumped into the carriage before shutting the door, signalling that the carriage was full and couldn't accept anymore students.  

With eyes widened in surprise, I watched as Draco sat beside me before enveloping me in a hug; barely noticing how like shit he looked.  Large bags hung under his eyes like dark crescents, his eyes were bloodshot and his hair was a mess; he didn't even look as though he tried to make himself presentable.

"You shouldn't have come back.  The Dark Lord has given directions for you to be tortured daily and killed whenever they deem fit, the Carrows seemed too happy about that, Amy.  You should get out of this carriage right now before-"  

It seemed he was a bit too late in finishing his sentence, as the carriage began moving quickly up the steep incline that would lead us to Hogwarts.  

"Do-don't worr-y-y, I'll kill them first," I promised, though I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep it.  "They wo-won't kill me unt-t-til the end of the year anyway, I'm too much enter-tertainment."  Clenching my teeth together, I groaned at my stuttering but it seemed Draco paid it no mind.  

"You don't understand, Amy, your pets are dead, he wants you dead and what he wants, he gets.  Even if you kill them, you have to kill Snape, then there are dozens more Death Eaters willing to kill you to get on his good side.  Bella is willing to kill you, in fact she begged for the oppurtunity, Amy!"  

I heart seemed to stutter in my chest, much like my words constantly did nowadays.  Gumball and Bambino were dead, that's what Draco had said.  Two small, innocent creatures were dead.. because of me; because I abandoned them.  

"Do you hear me, Amy?  You have to run, run as far away as possible, hide and do not stop hiding no matter what you hear, don't tell anyone where you're going.  You are second only to Harry Potter on their kill list, do you understand?"  

Nodding my head, I watched as he sighed in relief.  His assumption was that I would leave, that I agreed with him but he didn't know me as well as he thought he did if he thought, for even a moment, that I would simply roll over and cower away from a monster.  Monsters were my specialty and killing monsters would soon become a new specialty of mine.  

"Be careful, Amy, you're my best friend and you're my sister and I know what they did to you.. what we did.. what I did to you and I am sorry, so sorry.  One day, I'm going to make it right, I promise."  

Draco couldn't be trusted, he lied so often that it was hard to know when he was being truthful and when he was being cunningly sly.  But in the moment, I believed him more than I believed anything Remus had said, anything Neville had ever told me.. I knew that even if it was the last thing he did, Draco Malfoy would do his best to make it up to me.  

"Okay, Big D." 

*

"Luna Lovegood got taken off the train on the way home for the holidays, neither of you bothered to tell me that," I muttered to Ginny and Neville late that night as we sat in front of the Common Room fireplace.