Finding Herself || Draco Malfoy [BOOK 2]

Chapter 4

"Athena!" I said excitedly as she happily bobbled over to me and nipped my finger affectionately.

When I said Athena's name, my voice cracked slightly, and I gently massaged my throat. She backed away for a second, looked at me with her piercing eyes, and roughly pecked me on the arm.

I couldn't exactly speak owl, but I just knew she was saying, "where the hell were you?"

"Sorry," I thought. I tried to let it out, but my voice failed on me. I went with sending Athena an apologetic look. She shot me another glare, but then nuzzled her head into my arm. I brushed my hand over her head and untied the package and the letter from her legs as Matt stared at me in awe.

"I forgot you mentioned you have an owl," said Matt in shock. "How did it find you? And it carries letters? What?"

"Shit, I have to make up an excuse," I thought.

"Nice job," said my conscience. "How the hell are you going to get yourself out of this one?" 

I picked up the notepad.

My owl was trained and bred to deliver mail, as is my brother's owl. She's really smart and has insane hearing abilities. I trained her to always come back to me when she hears my voice too, so she might have recognized it from at least a few blocks away. My brother must have sent her out to look for me a few days ago.

"Wow, I didn't even know owls could do that," said Matt. "Can I pet her?"

I looked at Athena to ask for permission, and she nodded slightly, fluffing out her feathers. I nodded and Matt reached over to pet Athena.

"Her feathers are so soft, oh my gosh," said Matt, scratching the top of Athena's head. "It's like petting a cloud."

Athena flopped off of my lap and over to Matt so he could pet her better. She cooed softly and shut her eyes in pleasure.

While Athena and Matt were busy, I picked up the package and shook it. There was a familiar rattling noise inside of them, and I knew exactly what it was immediately, but I opened up the box just to make sure.

Laying inside of the box were two flasks, three pill bottles, and a folded sheet of paper. I picked up the flasks, the bottles, and the paper and looked at them. One flask was the potion for my lack of sleep because of anxiety, the other was for nausea. The largest pill bottle was a container of gummy multi-vitamins to combat the vitamins I lost because of my ED, and the two smaller bottles were my anti-depression medication and my anti-anxiety medication.

When I opened up the folded paper, I realized it was my meal plan from Madam Pomfrey.

"What's that?" Asked Matt, looking up from Athena.

I handed him a bottle without saying a word.

"Oh," said Matt, handing the bottle back to me after looking at it. "It's okay. I take Lexapro if it makes you feel any better."

I nodded. Honestly, I didn't know how to feel about Harry sending me my medication. I felt slightly ashamed that I would need to take the medication in front of one of the most mentally stable families I'd ever met, but I knew I needed them. My withdrawal symptoms hadn't hit yet, but they were going to soon, and that would have been more embarrassing than having to take the meds altogether.

Besides, my mental state was constantly up and down for the past week, so I needed something that would just numb all the pain and anxiety that I was feeling. Also—the meal plan. I knew damn well that I would not follow it, even though I told myself I would. I was in so much mental pain and felt awful about myself; there was no way that I would just sit there and let myself enjoy food.