Harmione - The Truth

Chapter Three

Ron and Harry peered down through the window curiously at Draco and Narcissa Malfoy, who were now walking out of their sight. The trio silently snuck around the corner, Ron behind Hermione and Hermione behind Harry. Swiftly, they caught sight of Malfoy creeping through a dark alley. Harry quickly started following them, motioning for Hermione and Ron to follow closely behind.

Malfoy and Narcissa were now walking down a dark staircase and to Borgin & Burkes. The bell rang indifferently as Narcissa walked in, though Draco stood firm on his ground, unmoving. For the first time, Harry could actually see what he looked like.

"Man, he looks awful." Harry mumbled, glancing at the sickly pale boy. Draco looked depressed; like he was stuck in a pure state of sadness.

The trio stuck their heads out from a different staircase, watching as Draco began gently touching a door inside the shop. He pressed onto it as Harry looked over in devastation.

"Mate, Malfoy's up to something." Ron mumbled, peering over Harry's shoulder to get a better view of the mysterious activity.

"I think that much is completely obvious, Ron!" Hermione sarcastically hollered, rolling her eyes at her best friend dimness.

"Well, you--" Ron started.

"Shut up!" Harry whisper-shouted, though targeting most of his frustration at Ron rather than Hermione.

Harry leaned over further, looking as Draco began doing something else. He then saw the back of a head as the trio ducked underneath the wall. Harry gulped, instantly recognizing the face; it was Fenrir Greyback, Werewolf, escaped convict from Azkaban. He was the one who bit Lupin.

Immediately, Fenrir thrust the blinds down so nobody could see inside. Harry sighed, wondering what analogy Draco was up to this time.
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Harry, Ron, Hermione, Alexis, and Neville were now cramped into one compartment, as Ginny and Dean were talking just outside.

Luna- who was now wearing a pair of bright, vibrant glasses- held a copy of her father's Quibbler in her arms. She approached Ginny and Dean, smiling as she saw the small, pink fluffball perched on Ginny's shoulder.

"He's lovely. They've been known to sing on Boxing Day, you know!" Luna beamed, softly petting the creature. "Quibbler?"

"Oh, please..." Ginny muttered, smiling as her best friend handed her the wacky magazine. She took a piercing glance at the cover, before looking back at Luna, a confused expression playing at her features. "What's a Wrackspurt?"

"They're invisible creatures," Luna explained dreamily. "They float in your ears and make your brain go - fuzzy." She continued, gesturing to her ears and throwing her fingers around it randomly.

Luna then shuffled her way past the redhead and walked through more compartments, dishing out more copies of The Quibbler. Ginny entered the large compartment, that was stuffed with all her friends, bidding Dean farewell.

"So..." Ron began, breaking the silence, once his sister took a seat. "What was Malfoy doing with that weird-looking cabinet?"

"And who were all those people?" Harry questioned, asking nobody in particular

"Don't you see?" Hermione turned to Ron and Harry, as Neville and Alexis began shifting uncomfortably in their seats. "It was a ceremony."

"What, like, an initiation?" Alexis asked as Ron cocked his head back to the girl with wavy blonde hair and blue-grey eyes. Hermione nodded in response.

"I-"

"Stop it, Ron..." Hermione interrupted calmly. "I know where you're going with this."

"It's happened!" Ron cried out, desperate for at least Neville or Alexis to listen, but they were trapped in a conversation with the argumentative Ginny. "He's one of them!"