✔️ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐎 → ℎ. 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦

05 | S H A D O W S

every step that I take
is another mistake to you.

   YOU SEE, WE have our ways to find out. Disobey, he will die. Tell anyone, he will die. You better give into your fate. It's the only way to save him.

   Ember rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling, Lucius Malfoy's words echoing through her mind like a death sentence. There was no room left for any other thought. So she lay here in the shadows, where she belonged, letting the darkness consume her; or was it the other way round?

   Many things she didn't understand yet. What she understood, was that Dumbledore had betrayed her. She now knew why he didn't want her to stay with Harry at Privet Drive, all alone amongst nothing but muggles. She had already guessed it, but now she knew; she was a threat.

   The Girl Who Lived In The Shadows. With a bitter taste, Ember thought back to Rita Skeeter's ridiculous article about her, this stupid headline ... A joyless chuckle shook her chest, and the darkness seemed to join in. The thought alone of what Rita would write now, if only she knew ... Ember closed her eyes.

   What she needed were more answers. But where would she got them? She couldn't just ask without breaking Malfoy's demand. Well, she couldn't ask anyone here in this house; she couldn't ask Order members. But that didn't mean she couldn't ask anyone at all.

   Pulling his letters out of her nightstand, Ember looked for hints. The logical result to think of would be that Draco had simply betrayed her. That he had sold her to Voldemort by the first given chance. But somehow she just couldn't believe it.

   Obviously Mr. Malfoy didn't know Woody. But if this all had been a trap right from the start, if this had been their plan, why would Malfoy be so delighted by the bird's 'mistake'?

   No, it was more likely that they had caught her owl ...

   "Hey Em."

    Her door opened and Harry stepped in. Ember's body stiffened, but she sat up. He shouldn't be here. Alone. With her. For days now she had managed to keep out of his way, what wasn't that easy, because ever since he got acquitted of his charge, he was in a way better mood and permanently trying to make up with Ember. Acting like she was still hurt by his words when he had arrived, she spend most of her time in her room. Harry had accepted it — until now.

   "Ever heard of knocking?", she said in a plain voice.

   "C'mon, Em, you can't still be mad", he sighed as he kept standing by the door. "I already told you I'm sorry, what else do you wanna hear?"

   "I'm not mad", she muttered, shaking her head. "I just — I don't know, okay? Would you please just leave me alone?"