He had.

Hogwarts was now officially being run by Voldemort and his death eaters, Snape at the head of it. As headmaster.

A nervous, stifled laugh slipped my mouth, my eyes darting back and forth between Luna and Wren opposite of me. It was more of a scoff, maybe; showing how utterly ridiculous her words sounded.

"You can't be serious?" My mouth was slightly agape, brows knitting together tightly. Though, really, I should've known the second I stepped onto the Hogwarts express; the moment I arrived at the platform, even.

It was all rather different, but I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was until now. Now, it was almost too obvious; The way everything felt darker; evil, almost.

Like the platform, and the train, and probably Hogwarts itself, have been draped under a grey shadow.

Two other things were odd about my arrival at the Hogwarts express.

The first thing, my arrival alone. Draco was nowhere to be seen. Not during my rather sudden and unexpected departure from his manor, not on the platform, and not on the train.

Were they keeping him there? Staying at his home instead of attending his last year at Hogwarts? Surely not.

Academic excellence, as he called it, was important to him. Important to his family, even. Too important to let him drop out of his last year. Go into life without a proper education?

Their beliefs were too damn ancient for that to be the case, I presumed.

But then again, death eaters might do things differently. Of course, for them, serving The Dark Lord is a far greater pleasure than finishing their education.

So, maybe Lucius Malfoy did take his son out of Hogwarts for good this year.

The thought had the knot in my stomach tighten. Hogwarts without Draco Malfoy just wasn't quite Hogwarts.

But, then, my thoughts quickly dove into the second odd thing about my arrival. Wren.

My best friend, who wept like a baby when we first reunited about a month ago, now didn't even give me a prolonged hug.

And it startled me, at first, because when I boarded the train and went to look for her, all I could think of was how she'd react; if she'd be mad.

Because even though none of it was my fault, Merlin knows Wren Inkwood is quick to anger, and even quicker to blame whoever is there at the moment.

So, it was entirely reasonable for me to think she might be mad at me. But it was quite the opposite of anything I would've expected.

There I was, standing in the middle of the aisle, in one of the last carriages in line as my eyes met hers for the first time.

My heart was hammering in my chest, had been the whole way down here and now threatened to jump out entirely. I wasn't quite sure why I was so nervous.

I remembered the feeling to be similar when I first saw Harry again, and wrote it off as nothing special. Maybe the excitement of seeing two friendly faces after being in confinement with no one but house-elves to speak two words a day to, mixed in with quite a bit of guilt.

She did tell me never to do that again; never get kidnapped again, like it was my own free will that let me get taken in the first place. But then I was taken again, that same exact day.

So, I did end up feeling guilty. Hoping she wasn't too worried about me the last few weeks of the holidays.

But then, instead of angry grumbles, long hugs and tears, she simply smiled at me. Raising her hand to wave me over to them as she stood up to give me a very casual hug.

I was dumbfounded, to say the least. Probably looked the part, too, but returned the gesture anyway before shooting a small, yet confused smile in Luna's direction.

"Hey?" I forced out, letting myself fall onto the seat opposite of them, my body quite stiff.

Wren's eyebrows raised slightly before her eyes itself narrowed in confusion. "What's wrong?" She asked, Luna following our odd conversation casually.

Why were they acting like I haven't been missing for another month, again? Like they haven't not heard from me in just as long?

"Nothing," I spoke lowly, trying to figure it all out in my head but failing. Miserably. "How was your-" I cut myself off when I cleared my throat. "Your summer?"

Wren huffed, not pleased by me diverting her question; answered, anyway.

"Well, let's forget the first half of it," She laughed nervously. "I was miserable during the time I was almost certain you were dead." She shook her head at the memory. "And, ah- then, the second half of it started almost exactly the same way," She exclaimed, sounding exhausted, her eyes fluttering over to me. "And I was furious with mother when she just apparated me, leaving both of you there. But then she went back to get Luna and her father. The only person really missing was you," She shrugged.

"And she was still furious with poor Delphia then, of course," Luna chimed in, rubbing Wren's arm gently as she spoke.

"But then I got your letter, and relaxed, and, well, we actually quite enjoyed ourselves, haven't we?" Her head snapped back into Luna's direction, and she nodded.

My letter?

"As much as you can enjoy yourself right now, that is," Her voice was a hushed whisper now, making sure none of the other Slytherin's around heard her. "With everything going on," She added.

I wasn't quite listening anymore; got stuck when she mentioned my letter.

My letter?

I certainly was not in a position to be writing letters this summer.

And then, as the question lingered in my head for a third time, I actually asked it out loud.

"My letter?"

"Yes, your letter?" She asked back. "Your letter in which you told us not to worry. That you and Draco got away and are safe; that we'll see you when we get back to Hogwarts. The letter Tucker-" She gestured over to my owl in his cage. "-brought to us?"

I took a deep breath, over analysing every word that had just come out of her mouth; coming to the conclusion, someone had obviously written the letter for me.

Though, Draco wasn't really in a position to do so, either. Especially not using my own owl. They were watching him too closely.

Before I continued to wonder who could've sent it, instead, I made a mental note to thank them once I found it.

"Of course!" I burst out, a little too enthusiastically. "Merlin, how could I have forgotten? Silly me. The letter I sent. With Tucker. Yes, of course." I rambled on, a smile plastered on my face as my hand ruffled through my hair.

Because, in all honesty, I didn't want her to be worried about me. I didn't want anyone to be worried. What good would it do if she knew I was tortured? If she knew I'd been isolated all summer? If she knew Draco saw, and watched, and knew, and did nothing?

Exactly. It wouldn't do anyone any good, at all, I decided. And left it at that.

And now, about an hour into the trip, they had told me Snape was headmaster of fucking Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

And I had scoffed in disbelieve.

"Yes, seriously, Y/n!" Wren snapped, amusement in her voice as she rolled her eyes at me. She wouldn't roll her eyes at me if she knew why I hadn't heard before. "Honestly, what have you and Draco been doing that you don't know that?" She stopped herself quickly, reevaluating her words with a scoff. "Actually, don't answer that," She then laughed.

I gulped, though forced a singular laughter out of my mouth.

"I don't know much about the current situation, to be honest," I murmured honestly, eyes glued to the table before I registered Luna's calm voice.

"That's alright, we'll catch you up," She smiled, nodding as I looked up at her with a grateful look in my eyes.

Wren was quiet now, letting her girlfriend do the talking. We all realised it was probably for the best right now.

"I imagine most of us are here because it's mandatory now," She began, tilting her head. "You know Who made it mandatory. This way, he will have the whole wizarding population under his eyes. The ministry, and Hogwarts; Adults and children alike," She explained, and I nodded in understanding at her words. "Anyone who's not attending Hogwarts this year or who is refusing to send their children is seen as a traitor. It's dangerous if you don't go."

The way her voice sounded didn't at all match the gravity of her words, what they were implying- no, telling me.

My breath hitched audibly, taken aback by how bad it had really gotten.

This year wouldn't at all be like my last ones; the complete opposite, from what I could tell.

And then, as if she didn't even say anything, Luna's eyes fell on something behind me before a less subtle smile was brought to her lips. After following her gaze, I was looking right at Draco.

His grey eyes capturing mine as soon as I turned around, my breath hitching once more. This time, it could've been excitement.

I hadn't seen him since it happened; not since I was laying on his cold floor, his aunt carving into my skin, screams rippling through my entire body while he watched it happen.

I didn't want to hold it over his head, and was begging myself not to do it. Reminding myself he didn't have a choice, he couldn't do anything but watch. Voldemort would've killed us both.

But I couldn't help myself.

I flinched slightly at his presence, my hand reaching for the scars on my arm that were covered by my clothes. And he noticed. Of course he noticed.

I swallowed thickly, watching as he stepped towards us, getting closer with each second passing, and then, he walked right past us completely. His eyes diverting to look in front of him with not so much as a courtesy nod to Wren or Luna.

And I furrowed my brows at him, anger bubbling up inside of me because he had no right to do that.

That was before I noticed the crumpled up piece of parchment in my lap.

Without even looking at Wren, who was undoubtedly shooting me a very confused glance, I opened the parchment as quickly and quietly as I could.

They're still watching. And it's still not safe. I don't know if it'll ever be again.

Don't be seen with me when anyone else could be around.

Common room at 1.

- D.

I tried my best not to let every single emotion that currently rattled through me show on my face, taking another deep breath before I burned the parchment swiftly.

And then I looked up at my two friends opposite of me. While Luna was focused on the passing scenery outside, Wren glared at me, hoping to figure out what was going on.

She didn't have to speak to let me know her question.

"We-" I interrupt myself with a cough, hoping it would give me more time to think. "-had a fight," I declared, uncertainty in my voice I wish wasn't there.

"A fight?

"A fight." I sounded more convinced of myself now, and therefore, convinced more of her, too.

Before she could ask any more questions, the train suddenly came to a halt in the middle of the tracks; forcefully stopping and jerking my whole body forward slightly at the sudden stop.

Nothing happened for a while; nobody quite sure what to say, or even expect. Worried looks were the only things exchanged before the carriage door forcefully slid open.

A deep, scruffy voice echoed through the compartment.

And not just the familiarity of it had my pulse pick up, but the words coming out of his mouth did, too.

"Harry Potter! Anyone here seen Harry Potter?" It sent shivers down my spine. "You're all better off if you tell us now before I have to Crucio it out of you."

I recognised Carrow's voice, reminding me once more of their meeting I had overheard, and what had happened in that meeting.

And as his loud voice roared in the background, intimidating students left and right, I knew this wasn't going to be an ordinary year. No, not at all.

A/N: I get that this chapter might be rlly confusing lmfao but I hope in the end everything kinda cleared up! I'll be answering questions if u didn't quite understand something so just shoot them here lol

Running out of things to talk about in my A/n's but I don't want to not do them because people seem to like them?? Also feels weird if I don't put them now. Is there something you'd like me to talk about at the end of every chapter??

See you tomorrow <3