Part 17

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
                          
*A Few Days Later*
                          
 The day to return to Hogwarts  had come and Alicia felt strange as her brother Edmund would not be accompanying her this year as he had finished his education at Hogwarts and had received an internship at the ministry so he would be staying at the Weasley's house a little while longer before returning to their home which was just outside London.
                          
Alicia was downstairs waiting for her companions to finish getting ready for their journey to Kings Cross station. She stepped outside into the large grassland that surrounded the Burrow and just stared mindlessly at the sky, events of the last few days playing over and over again in her mind and she couldn't help but shed a tear. 
                          
But then she felt a hand lay on her shoulder and she wiped the tears falling from her eyes and turned around to come face to face with Edmund, who give her a small smile and pulled her into his arms.
                          
"I'm going to miss you, I don't remember a time where I've been this far away from you" Edmund said as he held his younger sister tightly almost too afraid to let go.
                          
"You promise me you won't get yourself in trouble, now that I'm not there to knock some sense into you" He said with a small chuckle causing Alicia to giggle softly.
                          
"I can't make any promises but I'll try my best" Alicia said playfully which caused her brother to roll his eyes at her but laugh once again.
                          
"Kids come on it's time for us to go!" Mrs Weasley shouted from inside the house causing  Edmund and Alicia to part from their hug and make their way back inside. 
                          
"Is everyone here?" Mrs Weasley asked as all the children gathered around her with their trunks all downstairs. She glanced making sure everyone was present and ready to go.
                          
"Alright everyone seems ready, time we left!" She spoke full of energy which was the exact opposite of all the young people around her who had very little sleep due to their early start.

                          
"Al, I'll see you this Christmas be sure to write to me as much as you can and be safe, I love you alright" Edmund shouted as everyone started to leave the house so they would be able to get to the station on time.

                          
"I will, love you too Ed" Alicia spoke just before she shut the door behind her separating herself and Edmund, something that hadn't taken place in a long time. Alicia couldn't help but feel uneasy about the growing distance between herself and her brother especially in such dark times.

                          
*On The Hogwarts Express*

                          
Alicia sat down with the Gryffindor trio and her best friend Dylan, who they had met up with on the platform. There was a steady flow of conversation until Harry had a sudden outburst as he had just been sitting around and not saying much.
                          
"I think Malfoy's a death eater" 
                          
Alicia's eyebrows raised at his accusation, she knew the Malfoy's were death eaters during the last Wizarding war and she had met them personally and was pretty sure they still were but accusing Draco of the same thing was a pretty huge leap.
                          
"Harry are you sure? That's a really serious allegation,I mean come on he's only 15" Alicia spoke trying to vouch for her fellow Slytherin who she couldn't believe to be a death eater.

                          
"Ask Hermione she'll tell you what she saw!" Harry said getting slightly worked up that no one was taking his side.
                          
"I told you I don't know what I saw" Hermione responded calmly while Harry sat opposite her with a bitter expression on his face.
                          
"I'm heading out for a while" Harry spoke as he abruptly got up from his seat with his invisibility cloak in his hand which Alicia noticed and had a feeling that he was going to be out for a long time and he was most definitely going to get himself into some trouble.
                          
"Harry wait-" Hermione tried to stop her best friend but he left before she could even finish her sentence.
                          
"Don't, he's letting his hatred for Draco get the better of him" Alicia said resting a hand on Hermione's arm stopping her from trying to go after her friend.
                          
Hermione looked down at where Alicia's hand was resting and then looked back up at her which caused her checks to warm up and redden slightly this made Alicia clear her throat and pull her hand away quickly hoping no one had noticed the interaction between the two girls.

                          
*At Hogwarts*
                          
Alicia was seated at the Slytherin table next to Dylan. The feast was about to began and yet Harry still hasn't returned since he had left the carriage which worried the group of friends especially Hermione.
                          
Alicia looked around the Slytherin table and saw that Draco was also missing and slowly the dots started to join up in her head. That idiot went to spy on Malfoy and it obviously didn't end well.
                          
In that moment Draco entered the great hall with a huge smirk on his face and plopped down in a seat that was only a few spaces from Alicia and Dylan. 
                          
"Harry he went to spy on Malfoy, after he left the carriage" Alicia told Dylan as everyone around them started to gather food on their plates due to the feast finally beginning.

                          
"I mean that explains why he's not here, they don't exactly have a friendly relationship" Dylan replied in a joking manner as he also started to pile up food on his plate.
                          
"Yeah I know that, but what did Malfoy do that made Harry just disappear" Alicia asked her voice being slightly drained out by the chatter that was happening around her.
                          
"Well he's not disappeared look there he is a bit on the bloody side but we've seen him a lot worse" Dylan once again joked not finding the situation serious at all.
                          
Alicia turned around and saw Harry walk towards his friends who were seated on the Gryffindor table which was on the other side of the room, his nose was bloody but like Dylan had said he's looked much worse.
                          
Alicia heard a rather large outburst of laughter not too far away from her and she turned to see Draco and his friends laughing while taking a few glancing at Harry.
                          
"Well played Malfoy" Alicia whispered quietly to herself and chuckled. 
                          
Then she returned her attention back to Dylan and most importantly the food that was on her plate in front of her.

                          
A/N I hope you're enjoying the start of sixth year and the whole story so far. A whole lot of drama is about to get underway so I hope you stay to read it. Enjoy the rest your of your week. 😊