Little White Lies | Book 4

Chapter 6: Spirits

Harry never returned from the bathroom. When the train stopped at the station in Hogsmeade, Hermione and I turned to Ron. "Where's Harry?" We asked in sync. "He's probably already on the platform. C'mon," He replied calmly, and began heading towards the exit. Hermione followed, but I didn't move. It's not like him to just leave, and not return without us knowing where he was. Something was wrong.

I headed towards where the bathrooms were, in the back of the train. I called Harry's name a few times, earning myself only a response of silence. Suddenly, I heard a voice. It sounded so familiar, but I couldn't make out who it belonged to. "Sissy! Hey, sissy!" It said. I turned around, only to see Amber standing there. "A-Amber? But, you're dead. Y-You're not supposed to be here." I stuttered nervously. She smiled playfully, and clapped her hands. "On a train! Me and sissy are on a train!" With that, she spun on her heel, and took off running. Her purple dress flowed gracefully behind her, just like how all her dresses did when she'd run. I ran after her. Never before had Amber been a faster runner than me, but I was getting farther and farther behind by the second.

Suddenly, the voice from my Prophecy rung in my ears. 'Don't listen to them. They're lying.' This made me stop. Could this really be a cruel trick Amber's ghost had been playing on me? Or was this even her spirit? My thoughts were cut off by Harry's voice. "Riley? Love, why aren't you on the platform?" I turned to look at him, and gasped. His nose was oddly deformed, and blood was spilling out of it, onto his mouth. "Harry, what happened to you?" Luna stepped out from behind him, a dazed look on her face. "It appears that his nose is broken." I wanted to roll my eyes, but thought better of it and decided not to. "Come on, then. The train'll be heading off to London at any second." Harry informed us, hurrying towards the exit. The two of us followed, jumping off just in time.

Nobody was on the platform now. In fact, they were all probably already at Hogwarts. "Looks like we've missed the carriages," I noted, sighing. "That's alright, we can just go on foot." Luna said, somehow cheerfully. "I reckon that's our only option. Let's go, we're running out of time." Harry responded, taking my hand. So, together, we made our way up the hill that led to Hogwarts.

I stared at the dirt track as we walked, still contemplating what happened on the train. Either Amber's spirit had really appeared in front of me, or I was insane. The thing about it was that she looked so real. I thought ghosts would look a bit more like a Patronus, but apparently not. "Sorry I made you guys miss the carriages." Harry said sheepishly. "That's alright, it's like being with a friend," Luna replied. I only shook my head dismissively. "Riley seems to be in deep thought. She probably doesn't want to talk right now." She observed. "I'm fine, guys, don't worry about it." I muttered. From the corner of my eye, I could see both of them looking at me. It was obvious that I'd be questioned by Harry later.

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When we finally got to the Great Hall, Luna headed over to the Ravenclaw table. Luckily, she had managed to fix Harry's broken nose, leaving only a large smudge of dried blood above his lip. "Who did that to you anyway?" I asked him as we headed to the Gryffindor table. "Did what?" He questioned stupidly. "Oh, I don't know! Perhaps I was wondering who broke your nose, or, who bought you that jacket!" I hissed, seeing a look of realization appear on his face. "Oh that! It was Malfoy, of course. Who else would do something like that?" My heart stopped. I looked over at Draco, who gave me a confused, but gentle smile. I glared in return, as we sat down with Ron and Hermione. "What happened?" They both demanded in a whisper. "I'll explain later." He answered.

Sighing, I picked up a napkin, and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at me. Then, I began carefully wiping the blood from his lip. We locked eyes as I did so. I felt his fingers wrap around my wrist, and carefully pull my hand down. Then, he pressed his lips onto mine. I couldn't help but kiss him back, even though I could feel Draco's eyes burning holes in the side of my head. Finally, we pulled back for air, resting our foreheads against each other's. Ron cleared his throat uncomfortably, making us pull back. After that, Dumbledore began his yearly speech.

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When the feast was finally over, I went to the common room with Harry and Ron. Hermione was off doing her Prefect business. As we walked, Harry told the story of how his nose came to be broken. Serves him right for eavesdropping on people. But, at the same time, you can't just go breaking people's noses every time they listen in on your conversation.

"Hello? Earth to Riley Winters?" I suddenly heard Ron say. "What is it, Ron?" I asked irritably. "We want to know what happened on the train." Harry told me. I knew they had been asking about what happened to me. "I don't really know, to be honest. I saw Amber and—" Ron gasped, making me stop. "But she's...you know..." I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Ronald, I know. But, I'm telling you, I saw her! That's why I was running, because she took off! I was looking for Harry when I saw her. For some odd reason, she was leading me in the wrong direction. I stopped when I heard my Prophecy telling me not to listen to 'them' because they're lying." They nodded, taking in the information. "So, do you think you can see the dead or something?" Harry asked. "Seems like it. Now I just have to find out why they're lying to me."