Little Memories

Charlotte shut the compartment door behind her and immediately pulled all the blinds shut so she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone peering in on her. The only people she wanted to be with were her brother and Draco. Otherwise, she wanted to be alone. She stared out the window, at the parents watching the train and thought of her own parents. It was the first year that they hadn’t seen her and Gregory off to Hogwarts. Consequently, it was a year that she needed them the most to be with her.

Tears worked their way from her eyes and down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away, knowing that she didn’t want it to be seen that the situation was getting the best of her. The scared stares of parents and the not-too subtle words of a few others had hurt Charlotte. It was to be expected that her presence at the school would cause a ruckus, but she hadn’t expected the reaction to be so dramatic. She had no other choice, besides death, than to become what she did. Even so, it wasn’t really her choice; it was her parents.

As she stared across at the empty seats in front of her, she let a frown curl the corners of her lips downward as tears continued to tumble down her face. Charlotte was certain that this year was going to be a miserable one. There were soft voices just outside the compartment, but she paid them no attention. Pulling in her lips, she held in the sobs that threatened to overcome her. She would not let this break her down. She would be stronger than that.

The door to the compartment slid open, yet Charlotte did not give whoever had just walked in the satisfaction of seeing her tear-speckled face. Instead, she lifted her hands and hastily brushed away those tears, keeping her eyes focused on the bench ahead of her. Someone sat down very close to her and took one of her hands in theirs and she immediately knew who it was. The train suddenly gave a pull forward and Charlotte squeezed his hand tightly.

“Are you alright, Charlie?” Draco asked in a quiet voice. Charlotte looked over to him, keeping her lips gripped tightly between her teeth. Concern was wrinkled between his brow and his thumb brushed over her knuckles comfortingly. She looked over his face and gripped his hand tightly before slowly shaking her head. Her lips then slid from her teeth’s grip on them and they began trembling.

“I should be stronger than this,” she breathed, shaking her head slowly as she looked at him. More tears sprung forth from her eyes as she sniffled and cupped her chin in his hand, using the pad of his thumb to wipe away the tears. “I mean…I went to Azkaban for fuck’s sake,” Charlotte spat angrily though her voice quivered. “I have a feeling this is going to be much worse than my stay there. To have people speak poorly about me and my family…I won’t be able to stand much of it.”

“Well, I’m here…and I know what a good, kind person you are,” he spoke softly. “I went through the same thing last year and you were always there for me.”

“But this is different,” Charlotte hissed through clenched teeth, “they spoke ill of your father. This time they will be ruthless because I’m the murderer…I shouldn’t be allowed back in public let alone back to Hogwarts after what I’ve done to people.”

“But you had no other choice but to do those things. You would have died otherwise,” Draco said, trying to reason with Charlotte but knew that she probably wouldn’t listen to him.

“I could have said no,” Charlotte whimpered, shaking her head. “I didn’t want to die…so I killed anyone they set before me.” She turned away from Draco and wiped away her tears with her freehand, intertwining her fingers with his. “I’m a coward…nothing more, nothing less.” Draco gave her hand a squeeze and went to say something, but it died in his throat as Crabbe stepped into the compartment.

Charlotte sniffled and quickly tried to hide the fact that she had been crying, but anyone could tell she had been. Her nose was bright pink and her eyes were swollen and watery still. She managed a small smile, relieved to see that even he could not be swayed by her trip to Azkaban.

“How are you?” Crabbe asked, glancing between Draco and Charlotte. She drew in a breath of air as she thought of how to word her response.

“Well,” she started quietly but was interrupted when a rather disgruntled Gregory stepped into the compartment and sat down beside Crabbe, sending him a venomous look before turning to his sister, “it certainly wasn’t a quiet summer for me.” Charlotte managed a crooked grin, but it quickly fell. The compartment fell silent for a few moments and the four just sat there, glancing to and from each other.

“I can’t believe this is your last year at Hogwarts,” Charlotte finally spoke in a soft voice. “I don’t know what I’ll do without you three to keep me company,” she said with a sort of bittersweet sadness in her voice.

“Well, I’m happy to be rid of the place,” Gregory said in a low voice, leaning back against his seat with a sour kind of look on his face.

“What’s got your knickers in a twist?” Charlotte asked him, trying to come off as funny, but the expression on her face let everyone know that she was secretly trying to ask him how he was fairing through this who thing. There was a long pause as the siblings stared at each other before Gregory let out a heavy sigh.

“Many things,” he grumbled before looking out the window at the steadily passing countryside. Charlotte pulled a face at her brother before shaking her head, staring at him for a moment longer before looking out the window as well.

For the most part, their compartment remained quiet intermittent with small conversations about the school and how their summers went. The trolley came by but when the old woman pushing the trolley slid open the door, she took one look at Charlotte, paled, and continued on without asking them if they wanted anything. The reaction was expected and it didn’t seem to phase Charlotte, but it did. She would have to adapt to living with the name of murderer and Azkaban escapee, but she knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

“I could go and ask her for sweets, if you wanted any,” Draco murmured in her ear, just under the Quidditch conversation Crabbe and Gregory were having. Charlotte turned her gaze from the window, which she had been looking out for the majority of their train ride, and looked over at him.

“No…but thank you,” she said quietly, managing a small smile for him. “I’m no hungry and sweets with just rot your…” Charlotte’s voice had died off as she train slowly came to a stop, in the middle of a great expanse of a field. Everyone went quiet and looked out the window for any indication on the reason why they’ve stopped. Charlotte, however, sighed heavily and rolled her eyes.

“Those idiots,” she murmured as she walked over to the blinds on the door and window of the compartment and pulled them up one by one. “He’s not here.”

“Who’s not here?” Gregory asked as she sat back down beside Draco. She looked over at him for a moment, then realized he must not have been filled in with all the plans for the year. She glanced over to Draco and saw that he wore the same expression.

“Harry Potter,” she said simply, glancing between the three boys in the compartment. Gregory let out a scoff and rolled his eyes.

“I think the wanker would be smart enough not to show up to the most obvious place he’d be,” he grumbled and Crabbe let out a guffaw. Charlotte merely stared at them for a few moments longer before looking over at Draco.

“You know who’s teaching classes this year, right?” He asked her softly as the sound of heavy footsteps echoed at the far end of the cart, getting closer. Charlotte grimaced, yet nodded all the same.

“Alecto and Amycus Carrow,” she replied and her bitter disgust for the siblings not hidden from her tone.

“Wait, what?” Gregory interjected as a black cloaked man stopped beside their compartment. All eyes went to him as the compartment fell silent. He peered into the window and met the eyes of everyone in the compartment before he continued on. “They’re going to teach this year?!” Gregory asked once he was sure the man had left, looking taken aback at the choice of teachers. Charlotte merely nodded, ringlets bouncing softly as she let out a disapproving sigh. “But they’re the ones who started that whole rumor that you’re-” He suddenly clammed up once he noticed the sharp look his sister was sending him.

The footsteps outside the compartment stopped and Charlotte supposed they had moved to the next cart in their search for Harry Potter. It was a stupid, ill-conceived search to begin with. She would have thought Lord Voldemort would have known Harry Potter was not that stupid, but still have the search go on. Silence lingered in the compartment once more as the train began to move again.

“Well…what are they teaching?” Gregory asked, staring over at his sister. “Better yet, why was I not told about all of this?” Charlotte’s brow wrinkled as she looked over at him and let out another sigh.

“If I told you before, it wouldn’t have changed anything,” she said, her eyes turning cold and harsh. “And Alecto is teaching Muggle Studies, while Amycus is teaching Dark Arts,” she added in a soft voice that didn’t betray the pure hate she had burning in her eyes.

“Dark Arts?” Draco asked, causing Charlotte to send a sidelong look to him as she nodded. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She sighed heavily and let her head rest back against the seat behind her, closing her eyes. Licking her lips, she tried to keep her distaste for the situation under control.

“Despite the fact it’s still called Defense Against the Dark Arts, I know his plans and it sounds exactly like it is,” she said softly, opening her eyes and glance around the compartment. Three sets of eyes were trained intensely on her, hanging off her every word. “He’s going to be teaching the students of Hogwarts the ins and outs of the dark arts.”