PRINCESS ➳ harry potter , draco malfoy (OLD VERSION)

28 || The Monster

During a free period, Katie decided to take a walk across the Hogwarts grounds. There were not many students outside as it was a bitter January day, and anyone in their right mind would be inside by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate

The fact of the matter was, Katie wasn't in her right mind. The poor girl hadn't gotten a wink of sleep all night. She tossed and turned, stressed out about her friends knowing her huge secret, and also worrying that Malfoy would go around spewing rumours about her being the heir of Slytherin. Not that it mattered anyway. People had already begun speculating that she was the heir of Slytherin, and it was because she was the first Slytherin in a long line of Gryffindors, as Malfoy had said.

Katie took a seat on the damp grass by the edge of the Black Lake. A shiver ran down her spine so she wrapped her cloak around her body to shield herself from the cold. The girl didn't quite know exactly how much time had passed when she heard a shuffling beside her. From the corner of her eye, she saw someone take a seat next to her, grunting slightly as they did so.

Katerina turned her head to find none other than Harry Potter sitting beside her on the grass. He was gazing out at the lake, like she had been doing only moments before. Katie's breath hitched and her muscles tensed up, but she didn't get up and run away. Instead, she reverted her eyes back to the glistening lake. Their pair sat in harmonic silence for many minutes before Harry broke it.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he asked, his tone soft but also sad. Katie didn't respond for a long time. Truth be told, she didn't exactly know what to say. She felt that, no matter how she tried to justify it, her words would come out wrong and she would only make the situation worse.

"I was scared."

Harry looked at her. Faint blue and evergreen met. "Of what?"

Katie breathed slowly, her shoulders moving up and down. Yet another question that she did not quite know how to answer. Katie shrugged while picking up a small, white stone. She twirled in around in her fingers before chucking it out to the water. The pair of second years watched as the stone skipped across the lake, eventually coming to an abrupt halt and disappearing beneath the surface of the black water.

"Hermione is in hospital," Harry said, explaining quickly upon seeing the look of horror on Katie's face. "Instead of Millicent's hair, she accidentally put cat hair in the Polyjuice Potion, and it's not meant for animal transformations. She'll be stuck up there with a furry face and a tail for a good few weeks."

"That's horrible." Katie gasped. Harry nodded in agreement.

"It could be worse," he shrugged. "She could be—"

"Petrified." Katie finished Harry's sentence for him. There was a long pause. "I'm scared for her, Harry. You heard what Malfoy said. Last time the Chamber was opened, a Muggle-born died."

Without saying anything, Harry reached into his cloak and pulled out a worn but handsome, thin book, coated in leather. It had the silver initials T.M RIDDLE engraved onto the front.

"What is it?" Katie asked suspiciously.

"It's a diary," Harry said, handing it to her. "Look at the date."

Katie took the book from Harry and examined the faded date on the front, which told her that the diary was fifty years old. A strange numbness engulfed her whole body, and not because of the cold. As she stared down at the  book, Katie couldn't help but feel though is was whispering — communicating with her.

"I think, since the Chamber was opened fifty years ago, this diary might be able to tell us where it is, how to open it, who opened it..." Harry explained slowly. Katie flicked through the pages of the diary with furrowed eyebrows, finding that not a single word had been written in the entirety.