Chapter twenty nine

The third time in the train

/

It was the last evening before the Hogwarts students were to go back to school. The sky was overcast again and it did not look like it was going to stop snowing like crazy.

Quite excited, both Angela and Draco packed their things themselves before Jory could even offer to do it for them and were impatiently waiting to finally get out of the opulent, yet gloomy mansion.

Angela had just returned from the bathroom and was drying her wet hair with a towel when the door to her room opened without knocking as usual. She subconsciously steeled her mind against any intruders and casually greeted the incomer: "Hello, Mother."

"I came to say goodbye to you, honey," her mother coldly addressed her after closing.

"That's nice of you," she smiled crookedly.

Mary waved her hand impatiently, as if to shoo away a fly.

"Remember everything I told you and, above all, keep on behaving the same way you have been. That cursed Dumbledore has eyes everywhere."

"Yes, of course," she nodded.

"What did I want from you?" Mary asked challengingly. "What are you supposed to do once you get back to school?"

Angela gritted her teeth: "Send Daria Prescott to hell," she drawled.

"Exactly," her mother agreed happily. "And dare to disobey! I'll find out," she added menacingly.

"Yes, Mother."

"Also read all the books I gave you, they will come in handy, you'll see."

"Yes, Mother."

"Besides, I don't know exactly when, but our Lord will probably want to test you and Draco soon, so be prepared to sneak out of the school as soon as Narcissa lets you know."

"We'll count with that."

"And just by the way, I noticed you're pretty close to Draco, so keep a close eye on him and let me know if he does anything suspicious, okay?"

There was a brief pause as Angela went completely numb.

She knew very well that she herself was acting suspiciously and who knows what Draco could have sniffed out already. Although he had kept silent so far, for which she was understandably grateful. She observed her mother's expression and realized at that moment that she must never know what she had done and was still doing. She would quite probably kill her… No matter that she was her own daughter. Angela shivered at the thought.

"Yes, Mum..." she answered a little shakily.

"Well, excellent. I'm glad you finally understand everything, so keep it that way," Mary stated, approached Angela and kissed her cheek. "Have fun, honey. See you soon," she threw the parting words over her shoulder as she was already leaving.

The door slammed shut. Angela could finally let go of the pent-up resentment, anger, and fear. She kicked the chair by the dressing table and it flew toward the door where it hit the floor cracking. Damn, controlling her emotions like this was seriously no fun... Because at that moment she felt as weak as a fly.

/

In the middle of the night, Angela suddenly sat up sharply on the bed. She was shaking all over and tears were falling from her eyes. She was breathing rapidly, trying desperately to control herself. However, she still had it in front of her eyes. The misfortune, the horror, the screams of pain, the blood, the injuries and the dead...

"Not again… Please, not again," she whispered shakily.

She staggered to her feet and rushed to the balcony. She flung the curtains aside, opened the window, and regardless of the fifteen degrees below zero and the heavy snowfall, she rushed out. She gripped the frozen railing convulsively, and the surreal images finally began to fade, replaced by coldness and clear awareness.

Angela let the fresh icy air enter her lungs for a few minutes and waited for another shudder. But this time, it was because of cold.

She finally returned to her room. Small footprints remained behind her in the ten-centimeter layer of snow on the balcony. She collapsed into an armchair by the fireplace, where the embers were still glowing faintly.

Just why? she asked herself. She had taken two pills against the dreams, as usually... But this dreamy vision was strong, very strong. She knew what was going to happen soon. An old bridge was about to collapse, but certainly not on its own. Many Muggles were going to die, so it could be only Lord Voldemort´s order. And the worst part of it all was that she could not do anything about it. Nothing at all...

To whom could she go with her gloomy prophecy? Should she search for Headmaster Dumbledore somewhere? Would he be able to do something to prevent it from happening? Would it even help? Even if she told someone else about it, would they believe her? She did not even know if it was true or if she was just convincing herself there was nothing she could do…

She slowly got up and crawled back into bed. However, she did not lie down; she just leaned back, wrapped in a blanket, and stared into the dark. She knew very well that she would not be able to sleep tonight. Five hours were left until dawn...

/

Daria sat huddled in a thick sweater in the corner of the compartment, looking out the window at the heavy snow and listening to Ginny's cheerful chatter with some relief. Sometimes, she nodded at appropriate places and listened without resistance to the pleasant tone of her friendly voice. It was a refreshing change after the constant pitying looks and hushed chatter from grandparents and other relatives who visited them during the holidays.

At home, she just fell into depression that not even the sun could pull her up from, and hatred for the cause of her sadness sprouted in her soul. She almost did not even realize it was Christmas. She felt so empty and lonely.

Of course, Ginny did not act as if nothing had happened, but she was understanding and friendly as usual. Daria did not mind her rambling monologue at all, quite the opposite. It was a hundred times better than the sympathetic looks from some classmates. She was also glad her classmate found an empty compartment for the two of them and did not suggest sitting with the Gryffindor trio. Even before the holidays, she sensed that Harry Potter was avoiding her a bit, probably out of guilt, even though she did not blame him. But she didn't know how she would behave if she had to talk to him.

However, after a few hours of train travel, she went to use the toilet. And when she was on her way back, her calmness simply melted away…

In the narrow corridor between the two compartments of the wagon, she one again met with very familiar stormy gaze, with those strange eyes that made her shiver from head to toes against her will. Over Christmas, her aversion toward their owner dissipated. The grief over the loss of her parents eased a bit and many things cleared up in her head.

Even now, she could vividly imagine Malfoy's look when he saw the hatred in her eyes. She realized that the only one she could take revenge on for the death of her beloved parents was the cursed Death Eater Lucius Malfoy. Draco might have been his son, but he was not responsible for his father's actions.

She also decided that she would study to be an Auror. Only with such training could she attempt to avenge the heinous murder. She then tried to push the thoughts of Draco as far away from her as possible, but she still could not stay calm when she thought of him. She could not stop thinking about their kiss in the woods, even though she felt like she was defiling her parents' memory.

And now, she had him right in front of her. His electrifying eyes looked down at her from up close and she could not calm her quickly pounding heart. She felt something for him, and it was deeper than some infatuation, but she still refused to admit it.

I cannot be in love with the son of my parents' murderer!

Even though it was not Draco´s fault, it would be just wrong. The problem was that she had fallen in love with the younger Malfoy much earlier, no matter what he was like, and that feeling could not be smothered so easily.

After an interminably long moment, Draco moved out of her way without saying a word. Daria forced herself to start walking again with shaking knees and passed around him. She was walking away quickly, still feeling his gaze on her back, when the door of a compartment suddenly opened on her left. Daria accidentally bumped into some girl.

"Excuse me," she hummed softly, about to continue, but Pansy Parkinson blocked her way.

"What the hell?" she barked. "Has our orphan Prescott even gone blind or what?"

A gaggle of Slytherin geese came from the open compartment.

"Get out of my way," Daria urged her calmly.

Pansy grimaced even more: "No Muggle scum can talk to me like that! Apologize!"

"Forget it," she snapped coldly.

"No? It's going to end badly for you then," Pansy sputtered, reaching into her robes for her wand.

At that moment, Daria felt someone close behind her.

"Leave her alone, Parkinson," said a haughty cold voice.

Daria looked back in surprise and Pansy's eyes widened in shock.

"What?" she screamed. "You're kidding, aren't you, Draco?"

"As I said. Calm down and quickly fit back in there with the other ducks," he replied sternly.

Pansy blushed, pouting like an insulted fish, but she did not dare oppose him and the compartment door slammed shut behind her. At the same time, its curtains were also drawn.

Draco was still standing only inches from Daria's back. She felt his warm breath on her cheek and fidgeted, struggling not to turn completely toward him.

"You didn't have to, Malfoy," she finally got out, strangely calmly. "I can take care of myself."

"I believe you that," came the quiet reply.

Daria could not help herself and turned to him. He calmly looked down at her.

"What do you mean to achieve by this?" she asked tensely.

"Probably nothing," he replied, slowly raising his hand.

Daria shivered all over under the touch of his cold fingers on her face and he could feel it.

Draco was unbearably attracted to her full lips and felt like drowning in the blue of her eyes, in which he no longer saw neither malice nor hatred. Even though it was against all the reason, he gently caressed her cheek and lips.

Daria closed her eyes and fighting own emotions. She so wanted to feel his lips on hers again, but then… Then she suddenly saw a glint of silver on his middle finger and took a good look. She recognized the coiled snake and flinched.

Draco immediately pulled back, his face once again taking on a cold expression.

"I… Thanks for… for standing up for me," Daria stammered.

"It was the least I could do," Draco replied seriously.

Daria did not say anything on that. She turned and walked away from him as fast as she could without running. She was afraid of what might happen if she stayed so close to him for even a bit longer…

/

Harry made his way through the train as unobtrusively as possible, peering sideways into each compartment to see if he could catch a glimpse of the desired face. He left Ron and Hermione alone to finally welcome each other after the holidays as they tried to keep their outbursts of love in check in front of Harry.

He finally found her and a smile spread across his face. She was almost in the last compartment in the whole train as usually and had her shoes off. She was curled up over the seats on one side with her head by the window, sleeping.

Harry scanned both the compartment and the corridor warily, seeing not even a foot anywhere. He quietly opened the door and slipped inside. Angela was breathing calmly, and the strands of hair that fell over her face were trembling gently.

She looked so innocent and defenseless that he felt almost sorry to wake her up, but he had to take advantage of the fact that they could finally be together. He got down on one knee so her face was right in front of him.

He bent down to her, pushed back a few hairs, and kissed her tenderly on the lips. Angela fidgeted uneasily and opened her eyes slightly.

"Harry?" she whispered in surprise.

"Hello," he replied softly, leaning down to her again.

Angela raised her hands for a moment as if to defend herself, but when Harry began to kiss her, such thoughts immediately vanished from her mind and she returned the kiss passionately.

She had been missing him a lot. How could she survive those two weeks without him? She ran a hand through his hair and Harry pulled her close eagerly. They had no idea how much time had passed when their lips parted.

"I've missed you so much," Harry whispered.

"Me too," Angela replied with a smile.

Then, Harry noticed a silver chain around her neck and Angela a figure in the compartment door. Harry was about to ask, who she got it from, but a sarcastic voice from behind cut him off.

"Well, well... How romantic! Our famous Potter and Miss Slytherin! Quite an unbalanced couple, don't you think?'

Harry stood up abruptly and angrily turned to Malfoy who was smirking cynically. He did not know if he should snap at him for his bullshit, or because he caught him out with Angela. He knew very well how important it was that no one knew about their relationship.

"Say it one more time!" he urged menacingly.

"No problem," Malfoy shrugged. "But I'm not sure any of us would survive such a repeat."

Harry felt Angela's hand on his shoulder, who stood up inaudibly in the meantime. "Harry, leave it to me."

Harry turned to her: "You know what the bastard can do now?" he hissed softly.

"I know. Harry, please go. I'll deal with him."

Draco watched them wordlessly. Harry clenched his fists.

"Fine, as you wish," he agreed quietly, yet to Malfoy's surprise, he still gave her a quick kiss in front of him.

Angela lowered her head. Harry passed Malfoy with a murderous look and disappeared.

Draco slammed the door and created an impenetrable sound barrier around the compartment.

"You must be crazy!" he barked at pale Angela. She sat down dejectedly. "Anybody could have seen you!"

"I know…"

"Well, I guess you don't!" Draco retorted, sitting down as well. "Angela, you better get your shit together before it's too late!"

"But it already is. Too late, I mean," she replied extremely quietly.

Draco slowly leaned back in his seat and stared at her: "I thought so. It was really just an act, wasn´t it?"

Angela looked up in surprise.

"You love him?" Draco asked surprisingly directly.

Very slowly, she nodded.

"Damn… And that fool loves you," he declared with a sigh. "Now I've seen it with my own eyes. You both have that stupid expression…"

Angela blinked with an unusual mixture of emotions in her eyes. "Should I prepare to go underground for the rest of my life?" she asked tensely.

Draco just stared at her wordlessly.

"Are you going to reveal us or not, Draco?" she asked more urgently.

"No," he finally said through gritted teeth.

Angela breathed out in relief, but then eyed his suspiciously: "Why not?"

He sighed: "Because I know exactly how you feel right now," he confessed in a somewhat tired tone.

She smiled a little sadly: "I knew it."

He raised his eyebrows: "Knew what?"

"You're in love with Daria."

Draco fidgeted uneasily. "Listen, you don't have such a huge blackout from our private New Year's Eve drinking like you claimed, do you?"

She shrugged: "Apparently, neither do you."

"Hmm… True. Damn… Why are we always playing games like this in front of each other?" Draco hummed thoughtfully.

Angela was silent for a while. "I think we were kind of forced to it…"

"Why am I not surprised?" he sighed. "But back to you."

"Why to me?" Angela protested.

"Because I'm not the dating someone I definitely shouldn´t," Draco retorted. "You're the one with the problem."

Angela did not answer, just frowned.

"There's something here that you probably don't even realize," he began slowly.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked anxiously.

"If you want to hear it, then let me talk, won't you?"

She muttered something grumpily, but remained silent this time.

"Dating Potter isn't exactly, well… Normal for someone in your position," he stated caustically. "You're both just making life difficult for each other. If this information leaks to the wrong people, and I think it will certainly come down to it…"

"I have my excuse, have you forgotten?" Angela interrupted him.

Draco clenched his fists angrily.

"Yes, you have your wonderful excuse, and you're also damn lucky that you have such perfect command of Occlumency, otherwise there's no way you could've got away with it."

"So, what's the problem?"

Draco rolled his eyes: "Benevolent Merlin, lovers really are blind. So, okay, let´s say you use it. Can you imagine what will happen next?"

Angela did not answer, but a strange expression appeared in her eyes.

"He's going to ask you for a proof that you're telling the truth and you know what that means?" Draco drawled and without waiting for an answer, he continued. "You will have to bring Potter under the feet of the Dark Lord. If you do, your boyfriend dies, if you don't… you die. Sooner or later."

Angela just stared at him dumbfounded.

"Didn't you think of that?"

She just shook her head dumbly. This time, Draco's eyes widened: "I don´t believe it. Do you not think at all?"

"Not when I'm with him," Angela admitted gloomily.

Draco understood her perfectly at that moment, but he could not allow himself to say it.

"You should end this before it's too late. For the sake of both of you."

Angela just stared out the window.

"Did you hear me?"

"I did!" she snapped. "Do you think it's easy or what?"

"No, I don't..."

"I know you're right," Angela sighed. "But what shall I do?"

"Break up with him while there's time."

"I can't do it so easily," she shook her head. "What would I say to him?"

"I'll help you with that," Draco suggested quietly. "I have one fairly proven way…"

Angela slowly lay down on her back again: "I don't know," she sighed sadly. "I have to think about it, Draco."

"Then rather think fast, Angela."