The Slytherin Diaries: Heirs of Grindelwald

Monday, Aug 31

Dear Chiasma,

How do you live without hope? Sorry, didn’t mean to put you on the spot…oh, no, I’m doing it again. I’m trying to be completely myself with you, because if I can’t be honest with a diary, who can I be honest with? But now I’m beginning to act like you’re a real person (I named you for Merlin’s sake!) and it’s beginning to get a bit weird. On the other hand, maybe it’s better just to accept the fact that I’m weird and move on.

But back to my question. We did our annual back-to-school shopping yesterday, and Mum was in one of her rare generous moods and treated us all to ice cream, and there was this old woman sitting at a table all by herself. At first I didn’t pay attention much but she began muttering to herself and it was kind of hard to ignore her. She was just sitting there in these hideous green robes, her grey hair all piled on top of her head and her face so streaked and blotchy it was horrible. But she looked so happy, chatting away with some non-existent friend, I wasn’t sure whether to feel sorry for her or jealous of her. The world probably looks down on her, but she didn’t seem to know, or mind, at all… they say ignorance is bliss, but I’ve spent so much time competing for knowledge that I think I’ve thrown away all opportunity for ignorance. And it seems the more I learn, the more my hope for a better future (cause my current situation definitely getting more unlivable by the day) is diminishing at an exponential rate (I’m doing fairly well in arithmancy too).

I read in the Prophet yesterday that Voldemort attacked Beauxbatons Academy on Thursday and killed twenty-seven students and three professors. I’m sure he would have killed more, but they were the only ones there at the time… Beauxbatons offers a summer program, but their regular school year hasn’t started yet… and now it won’t. There was a picture next to the article, of this huge, gaping whole in the ground where the school used to stand and it looked like the earth had just swallowed a part of the world up. And (I know I sound like a bad person here, but I’m trying to be honest) I think they were lucky ones… I mean, look at what the rest of my generation will have to face! Voldemort’s honing his plan to take over the world, our Ministry has it’s head up it’s arse and refuses to see what’s right in front of it (meanwhile they’re spending so much money on military magic that Wizarding Welfare is going down the loo… I’ve been reading a bunch of editorials recently, can you tell?… and it just seems like there’s no hope for the future of the wizarding community. Or for me as an individual, for that matter.

Now I’m getting really depressed… I think it’s time to switch the topic. But I’m glad I got that off my chest, it feels like the lovely cloud of doom that’s been hanging over my head for the past few weeks has lifted half a centimeter. Anyhow. I was rereading my previous diary entries, and some of them are really weird (I mean weird creepy weird not weird Andi weird). I went on about some big black dog Mrs. Black had, only now I can’t seem to remember her ever having a dog, and I asked her about it and she looked at me weirdly. I think maybe I caught to big a whiff of whatever my neighbors are smoking.

I should really continue packing…or start, for that matter. Actually I just don’t have anything to talk about that isn’t really depressing. School starts tomorrow, I guess I’m excited in the sense that it’s a change of routine, but I know that it won’t take long before I’m just as bored of school as I am of being at home… we’re back to the living without hope bit of our conversation. Definitely time to go.

Andi blew softly on the green ink, looking at it for a moment before shutting the small book shut. She made a half-hearted attempt to toss it into her trunk, but the book fell meters short and Andi didn’t go to pick it up. Instead, she looked around her room with an empty expression on her face, as though looking for some object that would grant her meaning to her existence. There was her broom, sitting next to the trunk just begging to be packed. Andi had considered bringing it, but she knew she would never use it. She didn’t even have the courage to practice flying at Hogwarts for fear that someone would see her, let alone the courage to try out. On the other hand, it was her brother’s perfected prototype (complete with state-of-the-art steering and braking charms) and he would probably be hurt if she didn’t take it along.

Her books and clothes were already in her trunk, taking up barely half it’s space. Andi wondered what other students put in their trunks to make them so full… gifts, mementos from friends and family? She didn’t have many of those, or actually any of those… Andi fingered the bracelet around her wrist absently. It was silver, with little purple roses criss-crossing through the chain. She had no idea where it had come from, she had just woken up a few mornings ago with it dangling from her wrist like it had been there all here life. It wasn’t a gift, but it was the closest thing she could say she had. Provided, or course, that she was telling the truth.

Maybe she just didn’t have enough clothes. Andi supposed some of the other students had Muggle clothes, something Slytherins always looked upon with disdain. Andi stood up and chipped the diary into the trunk with a swift kick. She smiled, remembering her long lost summers of playing soccer with all her Muggle friends, not thinking about anything other than playing her best (and every once and awhile about Bobby Walker, the cutest boy in the neighborhood). She missed those days, before she had become so jaded and disillusioned with the world. When she could still just sit out on her balcony and look up at a gorgeous red sunset without thinking about the pollution that had made that red sunset possible.

Andi sighed, simply because she had nothing better to do, and curled up on her bed. Sleep was something she was beginning to love, eight hours of non-existence where she didn’t have to think, only let her dreams take their course. Especially now, when she had very few dreams left.

“Niles, you can walk right through it, I promise!” Even Mrs. Falco was beginning to get irritated with her youngest son, who was stubbornly refusing to believe he could walk through a solid wall.

“It’s some sort of test, isn’t it?” Niles demanded, his blue eyes beginning to water. “And if I don’t get through I’ll never be able to go to Hogwarts!” His little chin was shaking pathetically. Andi rolled her eyes at Sameth, who gave her an amused “be patient” look.

“No, dear, really, you just walk right in!” the boy’s mother said brightly, giving him a ‘little’ push that sent him sprawling into the wall and scattering his books everywhere. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry…I thought you’d be able to get through…” Mrs. Falco sighed as she began helping Niles pick up his books. “Sam, Andi, come help…”

But Andi had much bigger worries on her mind. Striding toward them was none other than the Malfoy entourage, complete with servants and house elves to carry all of Draco’s personal belongings. Andi wondered again what on earth other students brought to school in such great loads. Malfoy, for a brief and rare second, didn’t have his usual sneer. In fact, he looked downright worried. Andi would have been astonished if he hadn’t replaced it by an ugly sneer the moment he saw her. But even then, his eyes nervously darted around as though he were looking for someone.

Andi didn’t have much time to think about that, though. She couldn’t even look at Malfoy…or any Malfoy, for that matter, without turning red in anger…and embarrassment. So she turned to her mother instead.

Elizabeth Falco had an expression on her face her daughter had never seen before. Her expression contorted into a fury, her face turned pale in deathly rage, and her eyes narrowed into little slits.

But she wasn’t looking at Draco, or even Lucius. She was looking at a willowy blonde, her face perfectly smooth despite the age that showed in her eyes and limp hair. She stood tall and straight, and she matched Mrs. Falco’s expression with a purely livid one of her own.

Lucius Malfoy watch with interest as the silent hatred grew mutually, while his son scowled.

“I’m leaving,” he said sourly. “Can’t stand being around no-house filth.” Draco glared at Andi, who lowered her eyes so he wouldn’t see the tears that spurted into her eyes. Draco glared at Sam, too, but Sameth Falco glared right back and Draco had to break off first. With a sound that strongly resembled a growl, he grabbed his cart from one of the servants and shoved it through the barriar.

Mrs. Falco, without moving her venomous look from Narcissa Malfoy, said in a perfectly cheerful voice, “See, Niles? I told you you could just go right through the wall.”

That comment, of course, drew Muggle attention. Lucius glared at the wide mouthed passerby’s with hatred almost equal to his wife’s. Andi decided they weren’t really a happy family, not if they could have that much hatred.

Which made Andi shiver, because her own mother certainly held a lot of hatred just then.

She decided to follow Draco’s idea (something she never thought she’d do), and push her way through the barrier before anyone could tell otherwise. She felt slightly bad about leaving Sam to deal with Niles and their distraught mother, but she consoled herself by reminding herself that she was a Slytherin, after all. Slytherin’s didn’t care about anyone but themselves.

“What was that about?” a cold voice drawled behind her. “You’re mom hating mine, I mean. I don’t know anyone who likes your mom, though I admit Mother’s reaction was a bit excessive.” Draco creaked his cart next to hers.

“How should I know?” Andi snapped irritably. Her distaste for Draco was growing more by the second. “You’re the one who seems to know so much more about my family than I do.”

Malfoy snorted, but it was the kindest snort Andi had every heard from him. Not that that was saying much, and he definitely still sounded slightly sinister. “What, you still don’t know?” His eyes held condescendence and…pity? Andi wasn’t sure. “Well, you’ll find out soon enough.” With that, he and his cart squeaked away.

“I really hate him.” Andi’s eyes narrowed, and for an instant she was an exact replica of her mother.

“Who doesn’t?” Hermione Granger had appeared next to her, eyes steadily darkening as she watched Malfoy’s retreating figure. She smiled slightly at the girl next to her, who had somehow just shrunk and made herself even shorter. “Did you have a good summer?” she asked politely. Andi nodded mutely, not wanted to mess up and say something unintentionally insulting.

Her silence did that for her, though, and Hermione sauntered away.

“Thanks for helping out back there,” her brother’s voice came dryly as he stepped up behind her. He didn’t seem to angry, though…he was much too relieved that his mother hadn’t killed Narcissa and Narcissa hadn’t killed his mother.

“Yeah, well, sorry,” Andi said sourly, as she was understandably developing a rotten mood. “Have a great year.” She pushed away.

“Don’t you want to say goodbye to Mum?” Sam called after her, sounding shocked. Andi froze for a second as a sudden fear, crept over her, but it vanished quickly.

“No!” she shouted back, not turning around once until she reached the train, and not once even then. Something in her was shaking about what Sam had asked.

Andi’s stomach refused to unknot itself even once she was on the train. A menacing feeling kept lurking around her, hauntingly, like a sulking wolf waiting to attack, it’s vengeance growing every moment it was kept waiting. Andi shivered and looked at her reflection in the mirror. At fourteen her face was already heavily lined, like constant shadows sauntering across her face and refusing to go away. Her eyes, once a lively and brilliant shade of clear green, had lost all their mystique for dull acceptance of a fated world. Her hair hung limply from her head, refusing to be anything but the dead cells they in fact were. Nothing in her face seemed alive anymore, just a collection of parts pasted together with shabby glue.

Andi brought up her hand slowly, blocking her reflection in the window. Her hand twisted slowly as though it had a life of it’s own, gripping some unseen object that seemed fitted to Andi’s hand.

“Is this a knife I see before me?” Andi quoted loosely. Her hand held itself in such a familiar position, it really felt like she was holding something, adjusting to some unseen weight that didn’t exist.

A sudden noise behind her made Andi jump, relaxing her hand. She half expected the invisible object to clatter on the floor, but of course no such object existed. She whirled around, furious at being caught in such an intimate state.

Her gaze softened the second she saw who had opened the apartment door. Of course it would be the marvelous Harry Potter and his followers that would catch her staring at her hand like an idiot.

“Sorry,” Harry said, looking sincerely sorry. Andi was on the verge of tears for some reason she couldn’t comprehend, and having someone be actually nice to her was not helping the matter. “Didn’t know anyone was in here.” His hand moved to close the door. No! Andi mentally screamed, willing him to stop the movement that had suddenly dissolved into slow motion in her mind, willing him to come sit down instead. She really shouldn’t be left alone with her thoughts.

Suddenly the creak of the sliding door halted. One pale, freckled hand had snaked under Harry’s arm to grip the door tightly. “All the other compartments are full,” a slightly choked voice behind Harry said. “We may well sit here.” Andi looked up, to be greeted by the eyes of Harry’s best friend. He quickly glanced away, his face steadily brightening.

Great, Andi thought with disgust. She felt like she should be pleased that a guy had finally noticed her, but she hadn’t imagined her first love to be a freckled carrot (she made a mental note never to refer to a guy as a vegetable again… it was only about the biggest turnoff she had ever come up with).

“We haven’t checked the rest of this car!” Hermione protested quickly, still miffed from Andi’s silence earlier.

Harry looked at her quizzically. Andi tried to memorize his face, deciding that it was officially the cutest look she had ever seen… one eyebrow arched ever so slightly, and the corners of his mouth turned up just barely. But the real smile was in his eyes, which danced so vivaciously even his glasses couldn’t hide it.

“Hermione, we’re at the end of the car. At the end of the train, actually.” Harry grinned, but it seemed like a heavy smile to Andi, one that carried a certain amount of baggage with it and one that hadn’t forgotten the world outside of his small circle of friends.

Andi was so absorbed in his smile she jumped when he spoke again. “Do you mind?” Andi looked up blankly, at first not realizing her was speaking to her. She shook her head mutely. Inside, her already tense stomach was trying out for the acrobatic Limping games with all the flips it was doing out of excitement and fear.

Hermione sighed and slid in the booth opposite Andi, followed by Harry. Andi sighed inwardly, really not wanting Ron next to her. Andi looked up, desperately hoping Harry’s entourage had grown over the summer and there would be someone else to sit next to her, but only Ron was left. He slid in the booth next to Harry.

Well, there’s always that possibility, Andi thought bitterly, not knowing whether to be relieved or upset. A lovely reminder that she had no friends.

Silence hung over the compartment. Andi feigned staring out the window, while actually looking at the reflection of the three Gryffindors sitting across from her. Ron was alternating studying his hands and sneaking glances up at her, then over at his friends (presumably to make sure they hadn’t noticed). Harry was cleaning his glasses the old fashioned way, with a little piece of cloth. Hermione met her gaze in the reflection of the window, obviously having the same plan as Andi. Both girls glance away quickly and looked at their shoes instead.

Andi would have thought the silence was amusing if she hadn’t also found it degrading. Did they really think there was nothing they could possibly have in common to talk about? On the other hand, Andi wasn’t exactly making an effort herself.

“So it’s Annie, right?” Harry asked tentatively, finally breaking the silence.

“Andi.” Three voices corrected him simultaneously. Ron and Hermione glanced at each other across Harry, each unsure of how the other knew Andi’s name. Harry ignored them and attempted to salvage the scraps of the nonexistent conversation.

“You’re a fourth year?” Andi nodded, willing herself to speak and finding her voice had suddenly disappeared. “Which classes are you taking?” He looked almost unsure of himself, which was certainly ironic enough to make Andi laugh if she could only remember how. It had been ages since she had laughed out loud. She swallowed, trying to bring an answer out of her mouth.

“Arithmancy and Muggle Studies,” Andi told him, praying her face wasn’t bright red. She was getting fairly disgusted with herself, unable to believe she had gone to all that work for four words. “You?” She barely squeaked out, determined to at least contribute something to the exceedingly pathetic conversation.

“Magical Creatures and Divination,” he told her, smiling just the barest amount. Andi was slowly working up to a smile when Ron blurted out,

“Are there any other Slytherins in Muggle Studies?” His face was, if possible, redder than his hair. Andi would have felt reassured by the fact that she wasn’t the most insecure person in the compartment if it hadn’t been for the nature of the question. There was a loud scuffling sound under the table and the result of Ron biting his lip in pain. Andi assumed Harry, or Hermione, or both had kicked Ron under the table. Instead of making her feel better, any confidence she had left disappeared. She didn’t like the reminder that she was a un-Slytherin like Slytherin, but it was ten times worse to know that Harry and Hermione both knew it was a sensitive issue. Silence returned, leaving Andi with an awful feeling of guilt. She’d seen the three of them together (having watched Harry more often than she would admit to) and knew that they were always laughing and joking with each other, always having fun. Yet now, sitting across the table from her, they all looked perfectly miserable. Andi decided her mood-dampening cloud must have grown to include everybody within a five foot radius of her.

The compartment door slid open again, breaking the silence with a small whoosh. “I’ve been looking all over for you guys,” a breathless voice intruded as it’s owner slid in the booth next to Andi. “I’ve had to listen to Lauren go on for the past hour about how cute the transfer student John or Jeff or whatever his name is is… I mean, I’m sure he is, but I can’t believe he warrants an hour’s worth of adoration-” she stopped abruptly when she saw who she was sitting next to. “Andi! How was you’re summer?” She concluded, recovering admirably.

Andi looked at the newest arrival with the same fearful expression that a deer looks at oncoming headlights with. There was no particular animosity between Ginny Weasely, but by the same token they’d never spoken to each other before. And while Andi hadn’t changed over the summer in any way that she could see, Ginny had grown into a gorgeous young woman. She was taller than Andi now, and her once messy red hair was now straight and perfect, her face suddenly long and elegant instead of chubby. Andi tried to get rid of the jealous pit in her stomach as she answered.

“Okay, I guess. Yours?” Her voice was almost beginning to sound normal.

“Not terrible.” Ginny gave a smile that gave away the litotes in her answer. “Viktor invited us all up to his castle for two weeks… where the entire rest of the Bulgarian quidditch team happened to be staying…” her eyes danced mischievously. Hermione grinned too, recalling fond memories. The identical scowls on Ron’s and Harry’s faces suggested that perhaps they didn’t have quite as much fun.

“Oh come on,” Ginny grinned wickedly at her brother. “You know you had fun with Viktor’s sister.” Ron buried his head in his hands, muttering something about three chins. Hermione leaned over Harry to punch him.

“She was perfectly nice,” she told Ron archly, daring him to argue. Ron tilted his head so eyes just peered out from over his arms.

“I didn’t say she wasn’t.” His face had gotten even redder. “She was very, very, very friendly. Almost to a fault.” He shuddered. Andi slunk even further into her corner, feeling simultaneously left out and like she was intruding in on their summer memories.

Ginny, however, seemed determined to include her. “Hermione and I had fun, I can’t vouch for the two of them,” she explained, glaring across the table at Harry and Ron. “Harry got lots of Quidditch practice in, which was good because he was desperately out of shape after a year off.” Her grin was so dazzling, Andi wondered with another pang that Harry wasn’t blinded by it.

Harry just smiled amicably in return, however. “You played a little quidditch yourself,” he told her, leaning back in his seat. “Are you going to try out?”

Ginny shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet.” A small scowl came over her face before she spun around to face Andi again. “Do you play?”

Andi nodded slowly, unwilling to part with her secret but terrified to let them walk off thinking she was a mindless drone with no interests. “A little.”

“Oh, well you know we’ll never be able to speak to you again if you join the Slytherin team,” Harry said with a smile. The mean part of Andi wanted to retort that they’d never really talked to her before anyway, but the other part of her, the part with the huge crush on Harry, was struck with a sudden idea.

She could play Quidditch with…against, really, but to the same end… Harry.

She knew it was pathetic, clinging to this one small interaction, but at the same time it was the motivation she needed to convince herself to try out for the Slytherin team.

“Because of course that would be a tragedy,” Andi said lightly, pulling up the protective shield of sarcasm. She made a small attempt at a small smile and was rewarded by Harry’s warm smile back. He opened his mouth to say something but a menacing shadow was cast over the table.

“Always one for melodrama, Malfoy,” Ron said through gritted teeth. “Is that a glamour spell or just part of your family heritage?”

Draco ignored Ron and looked straight at Harry. “I need to talk to you.” He glanced around the rest of the table, his look changing from disdain to surprise when he saw Andi. “And here I thought you couldn’t get any lower,” he told her with a sneer.

“And here I thought you were never wrong,” Andi retorted. Being snide was much easier for her than making small talk. Malfoy’s cheek twitched, in defeat or disdain Andi couldn’t guess.

“Alone,” he emphasized, gesturing around the rest of the table. Andi’s mind was racing. She definitely wanted to hear whatever they were going to say, and was already thinking about how to stay in the compartment if everyone else got kicked out.

“Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of my friends,” Harry said, crossing his arms stubbornly. Andi sighed inwardly, wondering what it would be like to actually be his friend and not just someone he had momentarily forgotten about.

Draco leaned across the table with the slow grace of a great cat, and whispered something in Harry’s ear. Harry turned a deadly pale, looking at Malfoy in disbelieving shock. “You couldn’t possibly…how could you…?”

Malfoy slid back off the table, one eyebrow raised as he glanced around the rest of the table. Andi cursed under her breath, she knew Harry was going to throw them out now. She supposed she could dive under the table… then she smiled slowly, realizing that that wouldn’t be necessary. All she had to do was sit there and use her honed lying skills.

Harry looked at each of his friends in turn pleadingly. “I’m sorry…” he told them, begging them to understand. “Would you mind terribly?”

“Well, actually…” Ron looked like he should have steam growing out of his years. Ginny stood up quickly and looked at her watch in an exaggerated motion.

“You know what, I think it’s time to go change.” She looked at Hermione entreatingly. Hermione nodded.

“Definitely,” she agreed, sliding gracefully over Harry’s lap to shove Ron out of the booth. “Let’s go.” She and Ginny each grabbed one of Ron’s arms and together propelled him down the aisle.

Draco remained standing as both boys turned to look at Andi. She smiled, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back into the seat. Draco lifted an eyebrow and gestured to the aisle. Andi shook her head, deciding now was a good time to practice her evil Slytherin smile. Inside, her stomach was in knots about what she was doing.

“Aren’t you leaving?” Draco finally asked tapping his foot impatiently. Andi just continued smiling.

“No, I like it where I am,” she told him archly, wondering at her acting ability. Harry watched the staring contest going on between the two Slytherins, slightly bewildered.

Draco opened his mouth, then closed it again, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “I hadn’t factored you into all this, but I guess you really don’t care about Harry here enough to leave.” He grinned evilly, knowing he had lost but also knowing she was going down with him.

Andi swallowed as invisibly as she could, and looked Draco in the eye. “No, I don’t.” She didn’t dare glance over at Harry.

“Well alright then.” Draco smiled a smile that could have frozen a fire sprite. “I don’t suppose you have anybody to tell.” He slid in the seat next to her as Andi shivered and tried to move as far away from him as she could. Again, she had chosen the Slytherin path, as Draco had so kindly rubbed in her and Harry’s faces. Draco smiled in cold amusement at her discomfort before turning to Harry. Andi perked up slightly.

“You have to get everyone off the train,” Draco told Harry, as though it were a perfectly normal request. Harry’s eyebrow shot up, but he showed no other signs of surprise.

“And why would I do that?” Harry asked, folding his arms.

“Because if you don’t,” Draco said warningly, smiling the way a cat does at a mouse, “everyone on this train is going to die.” Andi’s jaw dropped. Without looking at her, Draco asked, “Still glad you stayed, Falco?” Andi just glared at the side of his face.

“M-hmm.” Harry looked doubtful. “So many questions come to mind here, but I’ll stick to the all encompassing why. Although it would also be nice if you answered the how part of this, and the why the hell should I trust you part.” Draco continued to smile.

“Well the why is because Hogwarts admits Mudbloods, the how is up to you, and I really can’t tell you why you should trust me. Except, rest assured, if you don’t get everyone off this train you will definitely regret it. For the little remaining time left in you’re life, that is.” Draco’s smile actually seemed to grow.

“And why are you telling me this?” Harry asked, but he was beginning to sound like he was relenting.

“Because it wouldn’t be entirely prudent for me to do it myself… and I figure you’re not going to tell anybody who tipped you off if you want you’re secret kept.”

Harry glared at him. “I meant, why do you care?” he asked through clenched teeth.

Draco scowled, and Andi almost felt sorry for him. She knew what it was like to have people think you didn’t care. Then again, looking at his hard face, Andi realized he probably genuinely didn’t care.

Draco glanced over at her, meeting her eyes for a brief moment, then looked back at Harry. “I made a prom-… I made a deal with an acquaintance.” His eyes challenged Harry to ask anything more. Harry met his glance but didn’t say anything. His eyes flashed dangerously, and for a moment Andi saw the strength that had allowed him to escape Voldemort so many times.

“Times wasting,” Draco told him, tilting his head slightly with a frozen smile. “And I would make sure you’re friends don’t tell anyone about this, if I were you and wanted to keep my summer activities a secret.” He was so still, with such an inhuman expression chiseled on his face, that anyone walking in at that moment might have thought he were a statue.

“We’ll talk more later,” Harry told him, sliding out of the compartment and rounding the corner with footsteps falling swiftly on the floor.

“I’m sure we will,” Draco muttered, sending a look of absolute hatred down the hallway. His face was so contorted in fury that Andi decided his normal face was almost handsome by comparison.

“Moving anytime soon?” Andi was still in her confident Slytherin mode. Internally, her mind was battling with itself as she tried desperately not to panic. Draco was the last person in the world she wanted to be around if she happened to show that she was, in fact, human.

But Draco continued to ignore her. Andi opened her mouth to speak again, but her timidity was beginning to come back and the effort wasted in containing her fear left nothing to gather up her courage again. She considered the alternatives of crawling over or under the table, and decided those exits would both be extremely ungraceful. At last she turned to stare out the window, entering into a period of uncomfortable silence for the second time that day.

“Shouldn’t you be flipping out?” Andi looked over to find Draco facing her, having silently turned around. Andi just raised an eyebrow, quite proud of the façade she had so painstakingly built.

“No, although I wouldn’t mind you moving so I can leave,” she told him. “I don’t particularly care if you choose to stay on the train.”

Draco looked at the silver watch on his wrist. “We have half an hour before we need to get off.” He leered at her, his eyes flashing in a certain suggestive manner. “Plenty of time to…” his hand rested lightly on her knee.

Andi pushed it off in disgust. “I would have thought five minutes would be enough for you,” she retorted. “Besides, you told Harry to hurry.” A small part of her, a part she really wished didn’t exist, was flattered. But it wasn’t a feeling that was awfully difficult to squelch. All she had to do was remember that Malfoy had slept with about half her class. Half exactly, actually… she was almost positive he had gone out with Florence and Persephone for all of two seconds, and equally positive that he had never even spoken to Julianne… Julianne was absolutely gorgeous, but also absolutely terrifying, even for a Slytherin. And of course, Andi would never go near Malfoy. Even if he happened to go near her.

“Which means it should take him half an hour,” Draco grinned with only a fraction of his usual maliciousness, waking her up from her thoughts. Andi started to glare at him again, then stopped. She’d reached her quota of Slytherin activities for the day, and she really didn’t feel like arguing with anyone anymore. She turned back to the window just as the train passed under a tunnel and her reflection sprung into view. Her face no longer seemed like a jigsaw puzzle of mismatched parts. Instead, the pieces seemed to have come together to form a picture that she didn’t like.

“Excuse me, if I could have you’re attention please.” Draco and Andi turned to look at each other in disbelief as Professor McGonagall’s voice came on over some unseen magical loudspeaker. “This is Professor McGonagall speaking. In a few moments the train is going to stop, and when that happens I would like you all to file quietly down to the front of the train and exit through the doors we have opened. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasely and Virginia Weasely are assisting us in this process, so please listen to whatever they say.”

Andi scowled. “How the hell did she get on the train? We haven’t stopped.”

“I swear I thought it would take them longer.” Draco wrinkled up his nose in disappointment. Andi could have laughed at the childish look on his face.

“Now can we go?” Andi asked, trying to make her voice sound as annoyed and as authoritative as she could. Draco glared at her and sauntered out.

“Where’s Professor McGonagall?” Andi asked Ginny as the train screeched to a halt. She had followed Draco up to the front to wait with half of the now hysterical student body.

Ginny grinned. “Not here. It was Hermione speaking, she performed some charm or another.” Andi just nodded, feeling jealous again. Why was it that there was always someone better than her in absolutely every category imaginable?

Someone had magicked a staircase, complete with a red carpet, to the doors on either side of the train. “Do you guys need any help?” Andi asked hesitantly, her voice back to it’s normal shaky stutter.

Ginny flashed her a smile as she ushered some terrified looking first years off the train. Andi could have laughed at the expressions on their faces, which kept alternating between fear of whatever was going on and awe of the Great Harry Potter, who was waiting down at the bottom of the staircase with Hermione.

“You could tell me what this all’s about,” Ginny told her, continuing to point people towards the exits. A group of sixth year boys were now passing by. A couple of the bolder ones cat called at Ginny, who blushed quite elegantly while Andi turned a lovely shade of magenta. “Harry just came stomping down the aisle and told us we had to help him stop the train and get everyone off it.” Ginny gave an exaggerated shudder. “He didn’t really look like he was inviting questions.”

“There actually wasn’t much more to it then that,” Andi told her truthfully, frowning as she realized all her work to stay in the compartment really hadn’t gotten anything for her other than more time with Draco that she could have done without. Why had Draco bothered throwing them out? Unless he had been worried he would have to give Harry more of an explanation… but he seemed to be holding something pretty big over Harry’s head, Andi mused. Another mystery she would have to go solve… at least she had something to do now. Andi was beginning to realize that she didn’t cope well with boredom.

“Draco told Harry he had to get everyone off the train,” Andi elaborated. “There was a little back and forth about why Harry should believe him, and finally Harry went storming out.” Andi shrugged. “You didn’t miss that much.” Andi nearly did a double take when she realized she had been so caught up in her thoughts that her voice had remained nearly normal for three entire sentences.

Ginny looked at her with disbelief written all over her face, but didn’t say anything. Andi cringed internally. Of course she wouldn’t believe me , she thought, bitterness creeping into her mind. I’ve spent way too much time lying. She turned to Ginny to try and explain again that that was really all that had happened, but where Ginny had just been standing there was only a closed compartment door. Andi made a distracted motion towards the exits for the sake of the students coming down the aisle, then cracked open the door as subtly as she could.

Ginny was standing on one side of the compartment, leaning over the table on one elbow and wearing a scowl on her face. Draco stood on the other side, raising one of Ginny’s pale hands to his lips. Andi’s internal jealousy meter was preparing to explode. All he did for me was my dirty jokes, she thought bitterly, remembering with a blush how she’d been unhappily flattered that someone even noticed she was a girl. For her he acts almost… gentlemanly.

Ginny pushed his hand away, scowl deepening. “What did you want, Malfoy?” Andi was pleased to note that she had been nicer to her than she was currently being to Malfoy.

Malfoy scowled, his previously charming face turning sour with a sneer. “Tell Harry he should send the train to Hogwarts once everyone’s off it.” He seemed the most genuinely perturbed Andi had ever seen him.

“Is no one going to tell me what this is about?” Ginny’s eyes were flashing angrily, surprising Andi. She supposed that must be all the anger that tends to get pent up if you try to be that nice to absolutely everyone all time. Or it could just be the reaction the Draco generally excited in people.

“No.” Draco’s eyes were flashing dangerously. “I think you should go talk to Harry .” Andi could almost see the disdain and condescension that was dripping out of his voice. Ginny stood up to leave as Andi dove back out into the center of the aisle, nearly knocking over a little girl with black pigtails. She prayed her face didn’t betray her as the compartment door slid open. For once she was grateful for her constant blushing, by now people must just think her face was permanently red and not read any more into it.

Andi pretended to study the door of the compartment across the aisle as she heard Ginny step next to her, trying desperately to act completely ordinary. Eavesdropping, while fun, was not a habit she was proud of.

“Uh, Andi?” Ginny’s voice had completely transformed back to its normal pleasantness, with no hint of the anger she had expressed earlier. “Why are you still on the train?”

With a small jerk, Andi looked down the aisle only to realize that she and Ginny were the only ones left. She could feel her face getting even hotter. “Um…waiting for you?” She threw a sidelong glance at Ginny to see if she bought it, but Ginny had a distracted look on her face. “But you’re here, so we can get off the train now, cause you’re…here.” Andi thanked any gods that happened to be listening that the Gryffindor wasn’t paying much attention. If there was anything she was the best at, it would be making a fool out of herself.

“Yeah.” Ginny threw one last, thoughtful glance at the door behind her before heading down the elaborate staircase onto the field below. Andi felt a slight thrill as she descended onto the windy moor, her heart beating with adrenaline. This whole mess hadn’t been so bad, she decided. It was actually almost exciting. And despite all the embarrassment she had gone through, she was beginning to feel slightly important because she clearly knew far more than the confused masses beneath her. There was a small spring on her step by the time she’d stepped off the staircase.

“Is everyone off?” Hermione asked Ginny when she came down. Hermione was wearing a huge scowl on her face; Andi suspected with only a small feeling of superiority that she wasn’t used to not knowing everything.

Ginny glanced up to find Draco sauntering down the staircase, making a point to take his time. “Everyone’s off.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Draco mentioned that we might want to send the train along it’s route empty so that…whatever’s waiting will still think…-” her voice broke a little, betraying her fears for the first time “-…it’s accomplished whatever it wanted to do…” her shoulders trembled a little, but her voice remained steady. Ron threw one arm around her in a manner more comradely than brotherly.

Her comments were meant only for her brother and his friends, but Andi was standing close enough to use her finely honed listening skills to continue her new-found hobby of eavesdropping.

“There’s a spell,” Hermione said hesitantly, blushing for no apparent reason. “But… I haven’t been able to master it.” She looked down at her hands, embarrassed. “I only read about it this summer! And I was busy…doing other…”

“Whoa, Hermione, calm down,” Ron told her, patting her arm with an amused but nonetheless shaky smile. “We all knew you weren’t perfect, it was just a matter of you finding out for you’re self.”

Hermione glared at him, but chose to ignore his comment. “It’s called Excio, it’s like accio but because you’re sending the object away from yourself-”

“Andi?” A tentative voice stopped Andi from hearing anymore. “How are you?”

Andi turned slowly, trying to think of anyone who would actually greet her of their own free will. Certainly no one had in the past.

“Persephone?” Andi asked hesitantly, unsure if it was really her housemate. Not only had Persephone never really spoken to her before (which was an awfully hard feat to accomplish in a class of eight) but she looked different in a way Andi couldn’t quite put her finger on. Her skin was lightly tanned, instead of it’s usual pale, but something else was different, too.

“How was your summer?” The other girl asked, running a slender hand uneasily through her black hair. She shifted her weight from foot to foot as though nervously waiting for some unseen ax to fall. That was the difference, Andi realized. Persephone had always been so confident, almost to a sickening degree. Now she looked like one wrong word spoken to her would completely unravel her.

“Boring,” Andi replied slowly, still slightly puzzled in Persephone’s sudden change in character. “Yours?”

“Interesting,” Persephone said, her gaze becoming momentarily unfocused the way Professor Trewalney’s did whenever she was faking a prophecy. “Very interesting. And eye-opening,” she added, her voice finally losing it’s misty quality. “So what’s this all about anyways?” She asked, titling her head to one side.

Andi shrugged. “Not a clue,” she lied, wondering how many times she had lied over the course of the day. And it wasn’t even supper time.

“Okay, why aren’t we flipping out more?” Florence came over with a saunter and a huff that was meant to announce her presence. “They throw us off the train, and now they’re leaving us stranded in the middle of nowhere.” She waved at the train, which was now only a dot in the distance. “How are we supposed to get to Hogwarts? And why on earth did they throw us off the train?”

Andi scowled, realizing that those were in fact very good questions. She still had no idea why Draco wanted them off the train, and she hadn’t even thought of how they were going to get to Hogwarts. There were certainly no fireplaces around, and none of them were old enough to apparate and tell the teachers where they were. Andi supposed there were always brooms, but it was hardly probably that they had enough to go around. First years weren’t even allowed to have them, though there were always a couple that tried to bend that rule (Andi herself had been one). And they all had trunks, which could be made lighter and even smaller but would nonetheless be awkward on a broom.

Fear began to clench her stomach as she wondered if this was where the trap lay, not off in the distance where the train was headed. She desperately tried to recall one specific instant, one specific phrase that Draco had said that would make it impossible for him to be lying, and realized that there was nothing. Only some deal he claimed to have made.

Harry believed him, was all she could come up with. She trusted Harry. Merlin knew she was half in love with Harry. But Draco was also blackmailing Harry. Was it possible that he had let his judgment slip out of personal selfishness? Or was Andi just imagining the way she would react in a similar situation, and assuming Harry wasn’t a better person than she was?

The dread in her stomach steadily increased as she looked up at the darkening sky. A storm now seemed perfectly fitting, she mused. Florence babbled on next to her to Persephone, who gave monosyllabic answers. Andi toed the dirt with her foot, unable to look at anyone around her for fear that she would see Draco, and see some murderous glint in his eyes that would let her know she was right, that they were all going to die.

“Oh, dear,” Persephone said softly next to her, cutting off Florence mid-rant. “Oh, no.” She placed one hand on Andi’s shoulder, as though to steady herself. Andi forced herself to look up.

Smoke was gathering like a flock of angry birds in the distance, swirling and building around itself as it tried to claim a larger portion of the sky. Andi looked down to its source, where she could just barely make out the shattered remains of the train, crushed like a little toy. There had been no noise, no explosion, just a swift stroke that was meant to annihilate all their lives. Andi shuddered as she looked at what could have been her graveyard, and she had the feeling that most of the students around her were doing the same. A small ripple of movement passed through the student body in eerie silence.

“Did I mention I’m glad were not on that train?” Florence’s voice cut through the silence next to Andi as general hysteria ensued. Some students were crying in shock, others were still standing woodenly as they gazed at the smoke in the distance. Most of the first years were absolutely hysterical, and none of the older students seemed to have quite recovered enough to calm them.

Andi felt an odd sense of relief wash over her, but it was short-lived. It could still be a trap, she reminded herself. They…the death eaters, or who ever they were… could find out that the students weren’t on the train, and come after them here (the entire student body standing on a large and open plain wasn’t exactly inconspicuous). More and more possibilities began racing through her head at an overwhelming speed shutting off all her other sense until all she could see and hear and smell were horrible visions of mass murder and destruction, so many different scenes blending into one until it seemed the world was spinning around.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, Camilla fainted.