An Unbreakable Vow ~ Harry Potter

xvii - in which malfoy stirs up trouble

It was dark. On all sides around her Valerie could smell the strong stench of old wood, and she could barely breathe in the musty confines of the broom closet.

Malfoy, Valerie thought bitterly, slamming her fist on the door. She heard it creak, but yelped in pain at the small sprinter that was embedded in the side of her hand. Her heart was beating wildly against her ribcage; she could swear that it was about to jump out of her chest.

It's got to be Polyjuice Potion. I'd recognise that golden tint anywhere, Valerie furiously thought. And he took some of my hair. But why would he need to lock me in here? Is he using the potion to transform into me? Why?

She settled down on the floor, her hands on her knees and her back against the wall as she waited for someone to come find her.

"Valerie? What are you doing in here?" cried Hermione. She hurriedly grabbed onto Valerie's arms and helped her up.

Valerie stretched and lifted her hands high in the air, trying to regain some feeling in them. Her foot had also fallen asleep, so she shook it out just for good measure. "I was glad you found me."

"Why were you lurking in Filch's broom closet?" Hermione asked, her nose wrinkling at the unpleasant odour of sweat and dust emanating from the closet.

"Malfoy," Valerie spit out, searching Hermione's face. "What? Do I really smell that bad?"

Hermione gave a sheepish smile. "You should probably have a shower," she finally said politely.

Valerie huffed and lifted the collar of her shirt to smell it, then made a disgusted face.

"So Malfoy locked you in here?" questioned Hermione. Valerie looked at her with panicked eyes and gestured to a group of Hufflepuffs who were watching. Among them was Cedric Diggory. She grabbed Hermione's arm, leading them through the halls to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"What are you doing?" Hermione hissed. "I don't want to see Myrtle!"

"Keep it down," Valerie hushed her friend.

Moaning Myrtle came out from the wall, making loud crying noises, her squeaky voice echoing in the bathroom. "I heard you! It's always Myrtle, Myrtle's crying again — Myrtle's just a big baby! Have you no regard for my feelings?" she sobbed, flitting about in the space around them. Before Hermione could open her mouth, Myrtle gave one last cry and floated into the wall again.

"That was —" Hermione started.

"Malfoy used Polyjuice potion, and I'm pretty sure it was to turn into me!" Valerie exploded. Hermione's eyebrows shot up on her head, and she gave Valerie a concerned look.

"Why would he want to turn into you?" she asked.

Valerie rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. "I know exactly who to ask. If he was turning into me, then there's only one person he would go to."

Hermione nodded at the same time as Valerie. "Harry."

"Hey, didn't you just — go — ?" Harry questioned Valerie as she stormed into the room.

Valerie paused for a second to gather her thoughts. So Malfoy did use her to get to Harry. She assessed Harry's confused expression, his red eyes, and his tousled hair. He looked like the conversation he had had with her — no, Malfoy — was not a pleasant one.

"It wasn't me, it was Malfoy," she said, and was quick to explain.

Harry nodded absently as she told her part of the story, not fully comprehending it. He ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes darting back and forth over her face. "You want to know what you — I mean Malfloy — said to me? He asked me how I put my name in the Goblet. It was a whole conversation. He seemed pretty mad when I had nothing to tell him."

"There's no way he made a whole Polyjuice potion just for that?" Valerie scoffed. "He should know that you would never —"

"Oh, so now you believe me," Harry smirked.

She smacked him on the arm. "Oh, shut up."

"So everything's alright?"

"Yeah, it's alright. You'll have a hard time convincing Ron, though."

"I'm just glad I've got you," he whispered, so low she could barely hear. But she heard, and she was grateful.