06 | B A C K

because the things               that make you strangeare the things                                that make you powerful.

   "TOOK YOU A while." The door behind Ember glided into its lock and the noises outside faded into muffled sounds. With a flick of her wand the jalousie hanging down the small window in the compartment door closed, then she pointed the thin wood in her fingers at the blonde boy sitting in his seat, all dressed in black, blue eyes rimmed by dark shadows.

   "Explain", she said, her voice sounding calm, while her insides were twisting and turning.

   "I know what you think", he lazily replied, not even paying attention to the weapon in the girl's barely noticeable shaking hand. "It wasn't a trap. It was a risk right from the first letter you wrote me, and I guess you were pretty much aware of that all along." He stared her deadpanned in the face. "Take that thing down and calm your nerves. We don't want your inner beast to grow hungry, do we?"

   Pursing her lips, Ember sat down on the seat across from Malfoy, her Wand lowered, but still a tightened grip around it. "What do you know?", she asked.

   "Not more than my father probably told you." He leaned back into his seat, seemingly enjoying her miserable situation. "So what did he want from you? Spying on Dumbledore? Murdering your sad excuse of a brother?"

   "No, he — he wants me to stay away from Harry."

   Draco cocked an eyebrow. "Where's the sense in that?"

   "That's what I wanted to ask you ..."

   "Doesn't make much sense if you ask me. I mean, you're kind of a super-weapon. I would definitely use you." He snorted a joyless laugh. "But fine, we need to get your sorry arse out of that. And you are a happy, fluffy badger today, because I was given an order as well."

   "What order of yours could make me happy?", she asked, and now it were her eyebrows shooting up high her forehead.

   "I was told to have an eye on you", he replied. "Make sure you are behaving. Give reports about your qualities." He winked at her and Ember furrowed her eyebrows. "We will spend a lot of time together, little Potter. If you're a nice girl, I'll help you. Tell them you're doing what you've been told. If not, I might let slip that you've been naughty."

   "That's not funny, it's —"

   "— about your brother's life?", he said, his voice now icy cold, every sign of a smile, neither true or false, had been wiped from his face. "Here comes the news, Potter: it's about yours as well. And about mine. What do you think will happen to me if the Dark Lord will catch me lying?"

   She hadn't seen it like that for even the split of a second. Blinking, Ember looked into his eyes. "Why are you doing this?" 

   "Well, there's just a tiny chance to get out of this whole story alive", he replied. "And this chance is you."

·

   "Oh my goodness, this is the cutest thing I've ever seen!", Hannah squealed, watching Woody jumping over Ember's bed high-spirited. Since Ember had gotten her feathery friend, he had grown rapidly, but still acting like a cocky little puppy, full of excitement and as much annoying as he was cute.

   "And you got him from —"

   "Remus", Ember quickly repeated her lie. "I told you he was a close friend to my parents. I spend the summer with him."

   "Why not with your aunt and uncle?", Susan asked, obviously highly suspicious.

   "Remus offered me." Ember shrugged, unpacking her trunk.

   "And Harry?"

   "He wanted to stay at Privet Drive."

   "With your aunt and uncle?!"

    Yes, that indeed sounded incredible, and Ember leaned a little deeper into her trunk so Susan could not see her cheeks turning pink. "I don't get it myself, okay?", she muttered, what was at least half the truth.

   "Okay okay, fine", Susan scoffed in a tone that clearly told Ember that nothing was fine in this point. "But how on earth could shabby old Lupin afford such an expensive present as an owl? I mean have you seen his robes?"

    "Gosh, Susan, you don't ask people how they can afford expensive presents!", Hannah shot at her red haired friend, and Ember silently thanked her out of the depths of her heart.

   "Sorry, just curious", Susan muttered. Ember would have bet everything she owned that this talk wasn't over yet, but to her surprise, Susan shrugged and said, "Fine girls, let's get dressed. I don't wanna be the last one coming to the party. If all the good guys are already taken, I will personally put all the blame on your lazy arses."

·

   "This is awful", Ember muttered at Hannah, both girls watching Susan dancing in the midst of a crowd that got more and more drunk the further the night went. "She isn't even drunk!"

   "Her personality is in a constant state of inebriation", Hannah mumbled back, nipping on her butterbeer. "There's no other explanation for all of this." Her hand testily brandished in Susan's direction, the corners of her mouth twitching.

   "Hear, hear", sighed Ember, raising her own beer to her lips, when someone tipped on her shoulder and she almost choked on her drink, as she turned around. "Heidi!"

   "Hey Emmie", the petite blonde friend of Cedric said with a smile on her lips, "I'm glad to see you here. How was your summer?"

   "Oh, it was — uhm. Long." Ember sheepishly looked down at her sneakers. "How about yours?"

   "I know what you mean", she said, those yellowish green eyes full of sadness. Heidi had been one of Cedric's closest friends, flying with in the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. If anyone knew Ember's pain, it was Heidi. "They made me Captain of our team."

   "Oh wow, congratulations!", Ember said, gladly taking this sudden change of the subject. "I'm sure you'll do a great job."

   "That's why I'm here." Ember looked at her startled, not understanding a word, until Heidi grabbed into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out a wrecked looking golden snitch. Its wings were fringed, its usually glowing surface was kinda milky — and Ember knew it all too good. "You know, he never got why you didn't want to play."

   "Heidi, please don't ask me —"

   "Did you know that it was one of his biggest wishes that you'll become his successor once he would graduate?" She talked on as if Ember hadn't said anything at all. "He was relentlessly talking about your talent, and that he probably wouldn't have been even considered to be chosen as our Seeker if you just tried once."

   "I can't, Heidi, I am not — it was just playing for fun, and it was my first year! I haven't seen a snitch this close in years!"

   "He would have wanted you to get the cup for us, Ember", Heidi said, letting go of the snitch and it was floating right in front of Ember's nose, the soft buzzing of its wings silencing every other sound. "Just give it a try. For him."

   The snitch was about to fly away, and in a flash Ember wrapped her fingers around it, feeling it struggling against her grip for a second before it came to rest. She wanted to hand it back to Heidi, but she shook her short blonde curls.

   "Keep it", the elder Hufflepuff said, shoving Ember's hand back. "He would have wanted you to have it." With a last smile at Ember, she turned around and walked away, her last words hanging in the air still long after she had left: "He would be so proud. Just think about it, okay?"

—