Ortum Infernum [d.m]

Chapter Seventeen

Odette woke up with a start in the middle of the night. Her chest heaved as she struggled to ease out of her nightmare and get her breathing under control. It was strangely cool in the dorm room, yet she shivered for a different reason.

Something felt out of place.

She strained her eyes until her vision adjusted to the darkness. She could see the silhouette of Susan Bones sleeping soundly in her four-poster bed by her left side. Her cat cuddled in the crook of her neck. Nothing was out of the ordinary there.

Odette turned onto her back and moved to sit up when a hand suddenly shot out of the darkness.

It clamped onto her mouth, muffling her surprised scream and pushing her head back onto the mattress.

Her hand immediately reached for her wand that she kept under her pillow and brought it up to her attacker's throat. She froze when a soft glow emitted from the intruder's wand and revealed Draco's face hovering above her.

"Relax," he whispered before he slowly lifted his hand from her mouth.

When Odette withdrew her wand from his throat and opened her mouth to question him, Draco lifted a finger to his lips then inclined his head towards the door.

She casted one last glance around the room, making sure the other girls were still sleeping away, before she clambered out of bed. She slipped on her shoes and snatched her cloak from the trunk, before she followed Draco out of the dormitory.

The moment they stepped out of the hidden entrance of the common room and into the cold corridor of the school, Odette spun around to face him with a questioning and bewildered gaze.

"What are you doing?" she whisper-shouted. "How did you even get in?"

Draco didn't answer either question. Instead, he stared at her with a studying gaze. "You haven't been sleeping well. Were you having a nightmare?"

Odette huffed in frustration but nodded at his question. She let her gaze roam over Draco and realised he was dressed in a black suit and a high-collar sweater. "What are you doing out of bed at this hour? I want an answer this time."

The corner of Draco's mouth twitched ever so slightly. His eyes looked golden under the flames of the torches.

"I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk."

She looked at him incredulously. "A walk in the Hufflepuff Basement? Dressed in a suit?"

His face was a mask. "I was walking in the gardens. Then I thought of you and kind of just ended up here."

Odette peered up at him. There were so many questions on the tip of her tongue, but she bit them back and instead tried to read his blank face.

Draco looked meticulously put-together, but she could see his exhaustion showing through. He looked paler than the last time she saw him and his cheeks looked gaunt, causing his features to appear even sharper than before.

There was something strange in his eyes.

She involuntarily shivered at the sudden drop in temperature of their surroundings and Draco immediately stepped closer to her.

"Are you cold?"

Odette felt something snap in her.

"Why are you really here, Draco?"

He froze at her tone but didn't answer.

"You've been skipping class for the past few days. I don't see you in the Great Hall—are you even eating? You can't just avoid me for days on end since you left the hospital wing and then show up here in the middle of the night, claiming that you've been on a nightly stroll, and suddenly start to act like you care about me again."