Grudges

Chapter 27

Summer approached quickly. Her mother informed her she was staying with the Weasleys and a few other people for the summer. She dreaded every moment of this summer, the sneers, the glares. What she dreaded the most was saying goodbye to Draco, he wasn't looking forward to going home either, so on the train they got their own compartment and cuddled in equal despair as the train continued on.

As the train came to a stop Victoria groaned "I don't wanna." She dug her face into his shoulder.

"Neither do I. But we have to, so come on." Draco grabbed her hand and stood, practically having to pull her from her seat as they stood.

"But babbbbbeeee." Victoria whined as he pulled on her.

"Too baddddd." He mimicked back as he finally pulled her. Victoria pouted as they reached the end of the train, before stepping outside Draco pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm going to miss you." He pulled away and kissed her hard on the lips. She smiled at his as he pulled away, he turned back to the door to the platform. "I'll owl you. I promise." And with that, he left, no giving one glance back to her as he approached his parents. The cold facade on his face as he left.

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Living with the Weasleys was difficult, they avoided her like a plague. Everytime any of them brushed against her shoulder they would flinch, they would glare at her when they thought she couldn't see them. She barely saw her mother, she would come home in the late hours of the night and leave in the early hours of the morning. Her father was Merlin knows where, and it had been weeks since school ended and Draco had yet to contact her.

Dear Draco,

I miss you, it's so difficult here without someone to talk to. I wish they would give me a chance, but all they do is avoid talking to me at all costs. I'm fairly sure Skye told them about us, how I wasn't to be trusted because we're together. Everytime I walk into a room the conversation ceases, I feel like I haven't heard someone have a conversation all summer. I'm sorry for only owling you with all this depressing stuff. On the bright side, my hair is longer! I'm thinking about doing something with it. I don't know what though. Anyway, I miss you. So, so much.

With love, Victoria

Victoria folded the letter and ventured up to the attic where her owl was and tied it to his ankle "Take this to Draco please." She whispered as she finished the little bow, the owl cawed and flapped his wings before taking of into the air, flying gracefully towards the sun as it set. Victoria jumped as her arm was nudged before turning to see a flurry of brown feathers.

"Hello buckbeak. How are you today." She cooed, smiling at the creature as she carefully ran her fingers across his head. He made a quiet caw noise as he nuzzled against her hand. Buckbeak became her best friend as soon as she came into this house, they all warned her about him as he might now like 'people like her' in their words, but they became quick friends.

Buckbeak actually took the time to know if he liked her or if he didn't. She did just as Hagrid taught her so long ago when approaching the hippogriff, it was a magical experience. Ever since that day she would come up to the attic and sit by the large balcony window next to buckbeak and watch the stars, occasionally bringing up some meat from dinner for a snack for him.

Kreacher would visit them as well, he didn't hate Victoria like he did the others. Probably because she was a Slytherin, but he kept her room spotless and brought her food when she didn't come down to dinner. Oddly enough, her best friends in this house were a house elf and a hippogriff.

Victoria sighed and sat down as darkness flooded the sky, the sun disappearing over the trees. The view of the stars wasn't nearly as great as the one at Hogwarts, but she still enjoyed the view. If she looked hard enough she could spot the Draco constellation, but that was rare. Buckbeak layed down and curled around her, his head resting under her arm and his body behind her. He was like a big dog sometimes. She pointed at the sky, smiling as she saw the constellation for the first time this summer.

"That's Sirius." She patted buckbeak's head softly "He's right up there, watching over all of you. Harry mostly, probably. He's probably up there with Harry's parents right now, fretting over every single detail of Harry's life." She sighed, she had never met Sirius, but after he died Harry would ever so often talk about him. "And that right there is the Cancer constellation. It's a zodiac sign as well, anyone born between June 20th and July 22nd is a cancer. It's mine, actually." She sighed for what seemed like the 50th time that hour "My birthday is in 4 days you know? Sweet 16" She said sarcastically "I mean it's not like my best friend hates me, this entire house sneers at me whenever I walk by, I barely see my mother and Merlin knows where my father is. Not to mention my boyfriend is either dead, hurt, or ignoring me. Sweet 16." She wiped a tear from her face as she laid her head against Buckbeak as she stared at the sky, desperately looking for signs of the Draco constellation, she looked until she fell asleep. Not seeing even a star.

It was dark, it took a few seconds for her to recognize where she was. It was Hogwarts. But it was different. Everything was in rubble, statues in pieces, it was barely recognizable. She took a few steps forward in the rubble before taking off in a run. She had to find her friends, she had to find Draco, she had to find Skye. As she ran clutters of people come into into view, little kids were crying. Older kids were covered in dust and blood as they tried to compose themselves. They were all shaking.

Adults came forward, all levitating what seemed to be dead bodies, but their faces were blurred. She couldn't tell who they were. An explosion rang through the air, silencing all chatter as the room shook, pieces of rubble falling from the ceiling. Screams echoed throughout the corridors as students and adults alike came running through, waving and screaming for everyone to run. Green flashes followed them, hitting many of the straggling children as they tried to run.

Death Eaters, covered in their black cloaks and masks. Some of them didn't wear a mask, but those faces were blurred as well. Cackling came from one of them as they stepped over a dead body, making sure to give it an extra kick as they went along.

It was horrific, and all she could do was stand there and watched as the blurred faces shot spells at the people who chose to stay back and fight. As each body fell a Death Eater turned to her and lifted their mask, except this time she could see who it was.

Lucius Malfoy. He smiled evilly before raising his wand at her.

"Crucio" Unimaginable pain shot through her as the red light hit her, she screamed. Then, everything went white.

Someone was screaming when she woke up, as she opened her eyes and saw Molly Weasley hovering above her, Victoria realized it was her. Victoria quickly stopped and backed away from Molly, avoiding her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." She whispered, her voice hoarse from screaming. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she thought back to the dream, Victoria squeezed her arm to stop herself from crying. Molly gave her a concerned look.

"Are you alright dear?" Her tone almost made Victoria laugh, now she cared about her? Victoria nodded silently, still avoiding eye contact with Molly.

"Are you sure? You seem distressed." Molly said, glancing over to the rest of the people in the house, which made Victoria realize she had woken up the entire house.

"Yes of course. Just a bad dream." Victoria's throat closed up as she once again was forced to think of the terrifying nightmare she had experienced. Molly nodded and stood up, walking away and waving the rest of the house to follow her. As soon as Victoria was sure they had gone she allowed the tears to stream down her face, choked sobs leaving her mouth as she tried not to make too much noise. Buckbeak came over and nudged her face, Victoria continued to sob as she held onto Buckbeak for dear life, living the pain over, and over again.

She couldn't put her finger on it, on how she knew the dream was real. But the one thing she knew, was that Hogwarts was going to be destroyed.