#acclaak

"What time is it?" she asked absently. He glanced at his watch. It was later than he'd thought. "Five seventeen." He shook the magic eight ball. "Do we need to leave?" Outlook not so good, the ball responded.

Vernon swallowed. With a jolt of shock, Harry realized he was backing down. There was genuine fear in his eyes, which were locked on the wand still in Leo's hand.

The door opened and closed again. He whipped around only to find himself almost nose-to-nose with Leonis Malfoy. He jerked back and reached up to rub at his nose. It was biting with cold, and he remembered being outside all day long during winters at the Dursleys just to get away from Dudley despite the fact that he had no gloves and his fingers would get stiff. "Are you interested in alchemy?" Leo asked, cocking her head at him. She was wearing her hat, but her hair was long enough that her ribbon-laced braid was draped over her shoulder. The end of the ribbon—it was black and stark against her pale hair—looked damaged and chewed. She was looking straight at him, fully focused. She hardly ever blinked. "What?"