𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 (𝖽𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖿𝗈𝗒 𝗑 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋)

chapter thirty-four

"Potter," Zabini called from the entrance to the common room after he walked in. "Uh, your brother is outside in the halls. I think he needs to see you."

"Thanks, Blaise," I said, standing up. Draco, who had been studying with me, looked up, eyes full of confusion.

"What could he possibly need?" he asked. "You two haven't spoken in a few weeks."

"That makes it all the more worrisome. I doubt he would come out to find me if it weren't important," I answered. "Don't worry, I'll come back and tell you what he needed."

My words seemed to satisfy Draco. He went back to studying as I left the common room.

Just as Blaise had promised, Harry was pacing up and down the hallway, waiting anxiously. When he saw me, he began walking, leading me further into the castle.

"Dumbledore needed to speak with you," Harry explained briskly.

Panic burned through me, even though I didn't remember doing anything worthy of getting in trouble over. What if I had done something and forgotten? The possibilities were endless, and I was stuck worrying since Harry didn't feel like talking.

Soon, we reached Dumbledore's office and said the password ("Acid Pops"). We climbed the spiral, moving stairs and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Dumbledore called.

I followed Harry into the office. "Good evening, sir."

"Ah, good evening. Thank you for retrieving Y/n, Harry. You are excused," Dumbledore said. Harry left, and Dumbledore turned to me. "Please, have a seat. I do hope that your weeks back at school have been enjoyable."

"Yes, sir, thank you."

Nobody spoke for a moment, and I looked around the grand office. Fawkes, Dumbledore's fire-red phoenix, stood perched in the corner. Silver trinkets and tools sat in the open spaces on shelves or tables. Multiple moving portraits, each showing one of the previous Headmasters of Hogwarts, were hanging from the walls, just as they always were.

"You must be wondering why I wanted to speak with you," Dumbledore stated, "especially since your brother isn't with you."

"Yes, sir."

"You haven't done anything wrong. There are just a few things I must tell you. To begin, I have recently become aware of your current relationship with your brother. Why are the two of you not speaking?"

I hesitated. "Well, it started when he asked me to choose between him and my friends, then he got mad when I went with them instead. That wasn't much, but he got extremely mad and started yelling at me, Hermione, and Ron at Grimmauld Place last year. He never apologised, though. And finally, this year, on the train, he, um," I said, pausing to think of a quick lie, "he fell and injured his nose, but instead of helping him, I left the train so I wouldn't be late to the ceremony."

Dumbledore nodded slowly, taking in my words. "I see. Now, Y/n, you do understand that you and your brother must work together to defeat Lord Voldemort?"

"Yes, sir, of course—"

"Then you understand that petty disagreements, like the ones you just described, cannot, under any circumstances, ruin your friendship with your brother." Dumbledore paused, clearing his throat. "I understand that these problems may seem like they're big enough to make you stop communicating with your brother, but they're not. You must focus on defeating Lord Voldemort with Harry."

"Yes, sir."

"I would like you and Harry to please put aside your differences so that you may work together again. The fate of the Wizarding World depends on the two of you."

I nodded, irritated with his wish even though I knew how important it was.

"On another note, there are a few things I must inform you of about Lord Voldemort."

"Yes?"

"Voldemort is a very intelligent, albeit evil, wizard. He has managed to create eight Horcruxes, which are objects that contain a piece of a Dark wizard's soul. When a wizard has a Horcrux, he is immortal until the Horcrux is destroyed. The object, whatever it is, protects the piece of soul and holds it until it is needed. If the wizard with the Horcrux dies, the Horcrux will replace his soul and revive him, as long as he has some sort of holder body."

"Sir, do you know what Voldemort's Horcruxes are?"

"I know four of them. Salazar Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, the Peverell ring, which I broke, and Tom Riddle's diary, which you and Harry destroyed in the Chamber of Secrets four years ago. There are still four others I am unsure of."

"Thank you for telling me, sir."

Dumbledore nodded in recognition. "You and Harry will have to destroy these Horcruxes before you can even think about defeating Voldemort. Two out of eight have been destroyed already."

He continued speaking. "For the final topic of tonight, I must ask about your relationship with Draco and Star Malfoy."

My stomach dropped. "Yes, sir?"

"I am aware of the fact that you have been close with them since your arrival at Hogwarts, although your friendship had been growing stronger in this past year. Is that correct, Y/n?"

"Yes, sir."

"While I, under no circumstances, have the ability to control you and your friendships, I do wish for you to be careful. The Malfoys are a highly powerful family, and they won't hesitate to get what they want, do you understand?"

I answered with a quick nod.

"You do not need to avoid them. All I am asking is that you are careful around Draco and Star." Dumbledore stopped to think. "That is all for tonight," he said finally. "Thank you for joining me. Have a good night, Miss Potter."

"Thank you, Professor."

I stood up and left the office. I reached the floor after descending the gold staircase, turned the corner, and nearly ran into Harry. I stumbled backwards and looked at him, thinking of something to say.

"Sorry for running into you," I mumbled.

"It's fine."

"I, uh, also wanted to apologise for how I've treated you this past year. We've both made our mistakes, and I shouldn't have left you like that on the train. I'm sorry."

"Please don't apologise," Harry said quickly. "I deserved it. I was so horrible to you and I'm so sorry."

I gave a soft smile. "Thank you. I hope we can try to become friends again, is that okay?"

"Of course."