Casualty of Love: Turning Tables

Bite Me

After I left the Hog's Head, I searched for Draco but all to no avail. He was nowhere to be found. I spied Ginny but she was in the cutesy little tea shop where people always went on dates so I decided not to disturb her. 

The weather was getting pretty wretched so I decided to go back to the castle and wait in the common room for everyone to get back. This gave me time to mull things over in private. 

I decided that I wouldn't tell anyone else about Draco... At least for the time being. It could present a lot of problems for me and Harry would probably assume that I was in on the whole death eater thing. Definitely not a stigma that I wanted attached to me.  

Just then, people started arriving back from Hogsmeade. Ginny and Dean immediately went back to a corner so I still didn't have anyone to talk to for another half hour when Harry, Hermione, and Ron came in. They were talking intensely among themselves. I decided to listen in before going up to them.  

"It wasn't a very slick attack, really, when you stop and think about it," Ron said, throwing a first year out of the chair across from me. "The curse didn't even make it into the castle. Not what you'd call foolproof." 

"You're right," Hermione said, scraping Ron off the chair and offering it back to the first year. "It wasn't very thought out at all. 

"But since when has Malfoy been one of the world's great thinkers?" Harry asked. 

What are they blaming on him now? "Hey guys. I couldn't help but over-hear. What are you talking about?" I asked nonchalantly. 

"You haven't heard? Well, I expect you'll be hearing about it soon enough. But I suppose I'll tell you anyway," Hermione began. "Katie Bell has been cursed by a rogue necklace that she was supposed to be giving to Dumbledore," she whispered.  

I gasped. "It was Malfoy. I know it was," Harry said to me. 

Hermione rolled his eyes at him and Ron gave him a disapproving look. They all thought his theories were bogus but I knew that they were unfortunately correct. "I don't know about that...," I began. 

"Harry is just using his dislike for Malfoy to explain this. I'm sure it wasn't him," Hermione interrupted. 

"Why are you all sticking up for him? He's scum! You don't think he's capable of it?" Harry said, getting angry now. 

I honestly didn't think he was capable of it but it sounded so suspicious that I had to believe it to be true. Draco had cursed Katie Bell in attempt to curse Dumbledore. I guess he was getting desperate after the Vanishing Cabinet frustration. 

"How is Katie? Is she going to be okay?" I asked with genuine concern. 

"She's with Madam Pomfrey right now. I don't know anything else..." 

That worried me. What if Draco seriously hurt her? I wonder if even he was aware about what happened to Katie. He didn't tell me anything about this plan, nor did he act like anything was wrong today. Maybe the agitation at Elijah was distracting him... 

"I hope she's alright...," I said quietly.  

I looked at the clock and realized that it was getting pretty late and I should probably go out to meet Draco now. 

"I think I'm gonna go for a walk. Don't wait up," I said solemnly, acting as if I was still upset about the Katie thing, which I was. 

When I made it to the Room of Requirement, Draco was outside waiting for me. "Hey," was all I said as he led me through the door and shut it behind us.  

He seemed distracted and I wasn't going to wait until he decided to tell me what he did so I brought it up all on my own. "Did you happen to send a cursed necklace to Dumbledore today?"