Darkness on the Horizon

Ch. 8

I had returned to Hogwarts early in the morning. When I arrived I saw Professor McGonagall speaking with the three children in the great hall. I walked over to them with a smile.

"Professor," I greeted as she flashed me a smile.

"Professor," she said in return.

"Isabelle!" The children all shouted together. I looked down at them with a smirk.

"What are you three up to?" I asked as McGonagall looked at me with a knowing smirk. She knew what they were doing but she wasn't going to tell me.

"We were going to wander around the school," Brie spoke up but I could tell that wasn't all they would be doing.

"I see. So you wouldn't mind if I join you?" I said holding back a laugh at the panic in their eyes.

"Um," Brie started before Minerva intervened.

"Actually Professor Malfoy. I had a few things to talk to you about if you wouldn't mind," Minerva said as I faced her.

"Of course," I said softly as the three children sagged in relief. "When would you like to meet?" I asked her.

"I was thinking we could take a trip to Hogsmeade in day an hour. I have a few supplies to get and I would love the company," she said as I smiled.

"Yeah. I am free. That gives me just enough time to check in with Severus before meeting you at the front of the school," I said to her. I faced the children next. "Be good." I teased as I then walked out of the great hall towards Severus's office. I had raised my hand to knock when the door yanked open.

"Isabelle. I didn't realize you were back," he said as I raised and eyebrow.

"Is something wrong?" I asked but he just shook his head. "Well. I just came to inform you I'm going to Hogsmeade with Minerva if that's alright."

"Yes. I don't have any work to give you right now," he said as I nodded.

"Great. If anything comes up let me know," I told him before I walked away. Something felt off but I just ignored it and instead made my way to the front of the school. I leaned against the wall waiting for Minerva to show up. I didn't have to wait long.

"Are you ready to go Professor Malfoy," she said as I nodded.

"Please call me Isabelle and if you want I can apperate us to Hogsmeade," I said but she shook her head.

"I like walking to the village whenever possible," Minerva said with a smile. "Also you can call me Minerva or Minnie if you'd like."

"Cool," I said as Minerva and I walked side by side towards the village. "So what are we getting?" I asked as she pulled out a list handing it to me. She was buying a few books and quills.  "I'm excited to go into the book shop. I haven't looked at some of the more recent releases yet."

"After we could stop at the Three Broomsticks to talk. I have several things I'd like to say to you Isabelle," she said seriously. I nodded and handed the list back.

We walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence. When we arrived we went into the quill shop first before we headed into the book store. My eyes lit up as I walked over to the new releases. Minerva gave a laugh at my eagerness.

"You and Madam Pince should talk sometime," Minerva said as I smiled.

"We probably should. I am kind of a nerd when it comes to my reading habits," I said grabbing a few of the books to purchase for myself. Minerva grabbed the two books she needed before we checked out. I shrunk my books slipping them into my jacket pocket. After we walked out of the store we headed right into the pub.

"Let's sit over here," Minerva said leading us to a table in the corner. I sat down as Madam Rosmerta came over.

"What can I get you?" She asked us.

"A pumpkin juice," I said as Minerva looked at her.

"One for me also," she said.

"I'll be back with those in a few minutes," Rosmerta smiled walking away. We waited until we had our drinks before Minerva began to speak.

"Look. I wanted to apologize to you Isabelle. I truly thought I was doing the right thing. I believed Albus when he told me things and the more I've spoken to you the more I've realized he lied to me," she said as my eyes widened. She was apologizing to me and it wasn't something I expected to happen this quickly but I could see the sincerity in her eyes.

"I don't blame you for believing him. I could tell you thought you were helping people," I said softly. "I forgive you Minerva." I saw relief fill her features before her face grew serious once more.

"I also need to tell you about something. People have been going missing," she said as confusion filled me.

"How many? I haven't been made aware of any missing people," I muttered.

"At least two yesterday and ten people total," Minerva said with concern.

"Who?" I asked her.

"A few low ranking death eaters as well as a few teenagers. No one knows what is happening or why," Minerva said. "I'm worried about the students. The teenagers were about to be seventh years and they just vanished."

"Can you get me a list of names?" I asked her.

"I can pull it together for you tomorrow. Normally I wouldn't care about death eaters missing but it's so many without any signs of what happened," Minerva said as I nodded.

"Thank you for telling me. I'll look into it and see what I can find," I said firmly. "I don't like that people are just disappearing."

"I tried to talk to Severus about this but he wouldn't talk to me about it. I think he is hiding something about it," she said as I agreed.

"I think you're right and at the moment we are the only ones who we can trust. Let's keep this between us while we figure this out," I said as she nodded. We tossed money on the table heading back to the school. Anxiety filled me as we walked towards the school. My mind raced with possibilities trying to figure out why I was left out of the loop. I had never been purposely left out before and it was infuriating that I was being blocked now.