Fear of a Name

Chapter Twelve: Out Past Curfew

We were among the first to reach the Great Hall at dinnertime; Harry, Ron and Hermione were hoping to see Hagrid, but he wasn't there.
I tuned out their conversation and looked up at the teacher's table. The fact Hagrid wasn't there was obvious — there was a huge gap between Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher. I looked to the far end of the table and saw Professor Lupin watching me worriedly, looking away when he realised I had seen him.
"I... I think I'm going to go... I'll see you in the common room later," I said to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, before standing up and walking out of the great hall and down to the tree I had sat at earlier.

Immobilising it quickly, I sat down and leaned on the trunk, trying not to cry. I had been so sure that I would be escaping the influence of my father when I got here, but the truth was that I would never be able to truly get away from him. I thought about all the things that were going to make him angry when I went to see him on Sunday, listing them out loud.
"One, I got into Gryffindor. Two, I'm friends with Harry Potter. Three, I'm friends with a blood-traitor. Four, I'm friends with a Mudbl — no, a Muggleborn. Five, I shouted at Draco. Six, I got Draco into trouble when he broke my nose. Seven, it's me. Of course he's going to be mad at me, he always is."
I started to cry silently, the tears streaming down my face, only getting up three hours later when I had finally calmed down.

I walked up to the castle and started towards the portrait of the Fat Lady, but I stopped quickly when I saw Professor McGonagall going into her office. I looked at a nearby clock and bit my lip — it was over an hour past curfew. I tiptoed past the door and prayed I hadn't been seen or heard; thankfully I had become skilled in walking in such a way that I made almost no noise in the time I had spent at Malfoy Manor, so I slipped by undetected.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I walked quickly up to the common room and looked for Harry, Ron and Hermione. Realising that they had probably gone up to bed already, I walked up to my dormitory, took off my robes and collapsed onto my soft bed, falling asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

(A/n: I'm sorry that this is a really, really short chapter, but I got to the end of the chapter of the actual book, so I couldn't really write anything else)