NUMB WITHOUT YOU | Draco Malfoy

| 13

Lucius Malfoy had a profound proclivity for humiliation, but the realization that Pansy and Draco were set to be engaged struck me to my core. How could I have been so blind not to see it? I actually felt bad for the girl now. She was to become Mrs Malfoy, and here I was, living in her home rent free. She had every right to hate me.

Draco had lied to me. He had said things weren't that serious between them and I believed him because I wanted to believe him.

I had to move out.

Above all else, I was being unprofessional living here. At least that's what I tried to convince myself.

But where would I go?

If I stayed with George, then I could easily watch what Camille was up to. But I would let it consume me, and that wasn't a good idea either.

I couldn't stay with Ron and Hermione. Their constant affection is somewhat sickening. It's one thing to witness every so often, but all the time? I would rather live with Pansy.

Ginny? That was a possibility, sure. But there's the same problem with Potter and her. And those two could get handsy. We had all been unfortunate enough to witness it a time or two.

I didn't have a long list of friends or confidants to go through. That's the whole reason I was stuck living with Malfoy in the first place.

I got out of bed quietly at 5:30 in the morning and crept through the flat making sure I didn't disturb anyone. I half expected to see Draco sitting at the kitchen counter sipping tea and staring at me expectantly, but his was nowhere to be seen. My neck craned to look at his bedroom door and it was shut tight. The lights were off. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I shook my head and pushed away my thoughts as I stepped into the lift and let the doors close behind me. I leaned on the back wall and stared at my reflection in the metal doors. It was warped slightly. I hardly recognized myself. The bell dinged and I found myself in the lobby walking past a baby bird sitting in a pile of ashes. The Phoenix had been reborn. I paused for a moment and the bird chirped at me curiously.

I went straight to Starbucks and got the most excessive cup of muggle coffee imaginable. It had to be. It was a bribe of sorts. I made it to the hospital right at 6 am. Imani was sitting behind the desk and her eyes fluttered up to meet my own. She grinned widely when I held up the cup of coffee. If I'm being honest it was more of a dessert than a true coffee, and she eagerly snatched it from me. She must assume that all muggles drink it like this.

"Thank you." She said as she took a satisfied sip. "You definitely owed me one."

I didn't say anything, and just looked at her as she hummed in satisfaction as she downed more of her drink. She began to scribble on her parchment and begin her daily tasks when she finally looked up to see me still standing there waiting expectantly.

Imani groaned, "I knew it. What do you need now, Doll?"

I laughed. I had forgotten the nickname she had given me. Dolohov was a name with too much history, and Imani wouldn't use it. So she called me Doll. "Do you have a spare room in your flat?" I bit my lip after I asked her. I was nervous about her answer as she mulled around with my words in her head. What if she didn't want me around? Maybe we weren't as close as I thought. It was still early I could go back to Malfoy's place before anyone got up and no one would be the wiser.

Imani raised a brow, "living with your boyfriend didn't work out?"

I breathed out quickly, "Not my boyfriend. Definitely not my boyfriend. Me living there.... that was inappropriate and out of bounds."