The Hufflepuff (Draco Malfoy)

14

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Sophie's eyes opened with a start as she gasped for air. The alarm clock read 6:17 and she wondered who could be trying to knock down her door at this early in the morning. She glanced at Hannah who had already sat up in her bed and was rubbing her eyes. When a second round of knocks rang out, Sophie slide out from under her quilt and tried to maneuver through the dormitory in the dark. As she passed Hannah's bed, her cousin yanked her down and covered her mouth.

"What do you think you're doing," Hannah hissed in Sophie's ear.

"What does it look like? I'm finding out who is knocking on our door this early in the morning," Sophie whispered once Hannah released her hand from her face.

"Are you crazy! Have you not read the Daily Prophet? There is a mass-murderer on the loose this very moment and you're just gonna go opening our door at the first knock you hear?" Sophie had completely forgotten about Sirius Black. The man had broken out of Azkaban over the summer holiday and there were rumors circulating that he was after their classmate, Harry Potter. They likelihood of the convicted mass-murderer searching for Harry Potter in the Hufflepuff dormitories was slim, but the thought of the evil man being right outside her door sent a shiver down Sophie's spine. "That's what I thought. So we're going to lay low until we know exactly who is on the other side of that door," Hannah finished.

The same three knocks rang out again and Sophie pinched her eyes closed in anticipation. What would they do if it was Sirius Black? She had read up on him after his breakout. The man had killed twelve people in a matter of seconds, one of them being a very close friend of his, Peter Pettigrew. If he was willing to kill one of his best friends, who's to say he wouldn't try to harm some Hufflepuff third years he knows nothing about?

Whoever was on the other side of the door was getting more and more impatient, because when the knocks came again, it was a pounding so hard it rattled the door on its hinges. Sophie felt Hannah's grip on her tightened and her hands begin to shake. She glanced over at Susan who was proving what a heavy sleeper she was. She was sleeping as soundly as she was when Sophie had came into their room earlier that night.

As the pounding continued, this time a voice followed.

"Guys! C'mon, wake up! Sophie! Susan! Hannah! I need your help!" It was desperate, urgent, and familiar.

"Is that Justin?" Hannah spoke aloud even though the voice of one of their best friends was unmistakable after spending three years of their life with him. Sophie nodded but was still too shaken up to try and stand. Hannah held her brown eyes onto Sophie's hazel ones for an extra beat before rising from her bed and walking toward the door. She undid the latch and turned the handle and Justin came barreling through, frantically scanning the room.

"Have you guys seen Ernie lately?"

"What the hell, Justin? It's 6 o'clock in the morning. No, we haven't seen Ernie. We've been asleep for the past five hours like normal humans," Hannah huffed.

"That's my point. He said he was going to spend some time with Sophie at the party around one and never came back. I woke up to some bird chirping outside my window ten minutes ago and he was nowhere to be seen."

"Maybe he's on a walk. I sometimes go on morning walks around the castle to be alone with my thoughts before the day starts. Really clears my head," Sophie suggested. There was a nagging feeling that something worse might have happened to her boyfriend but she refused to believe it.

"Are you really buying that, Soph?" Justin rolled his eyes.

"Do you have a better idea?"

"I... I don't know." Justin sighed before speaking again. "I'm just worried about him. I don't want to be the one to say it, but with all the news on Sirius Black, I- I don't know. It's stupid, nevermind. You're right, he's probably just on a walk." Justin turned back toward the door but Hannah stopped him.