Get Out Alive // Draco Malfoy

>>36<<

As I looked through the door Ethan had left open, my mood worsened. Malfoy was standing in the corridor opposite the room. He was leaning against the wall, a smirk adorning his face and he raised his eyebrows curiously as he made eye contact with me. Ethan was so angry when he walked out of the room that he apparently didn't notice that Malfoy had obviously overheard our entire conversation. He wasn't the only one, though, as several students were also standing nearby, whispering as I left the room.

By now, being stared at by others was nothing new to me, as anything Malfoy was involved in always became a huge mess and this time was no exception. As I ran out the door and in the direction of my common room, Malfoy pushed himself off the wall to follow me. But since I had a different plan - I just wanted to snuggle up in my dorm bed with a good book - I ignored him and quickened my pace. Malfoy, on the other hand, had no problem keeping up with me, after all he was quite a bit taller than me, and quickly caught up with me.

At the beginning, he was still walking silently beside me and I hoped it would stay that way until we reached the common room, but just before we arrived, Malfoy decided to break the silence. "What were you arguing about this time? Or do you always shout at each other when you talk?" Malfoy asked curiously.

"As if you don't know," I retorted, "After all, you were standing outside the door, listening to us the whole time."

"Just suspected you two were disagreeing about something again. After all, you didn't understand much." he said with a shrug and I was glad he didn't know this conversation was about him again; he was far too full of himself as it was.

"Well... it's also absolutely none of your business what I talk about with my brother. Why don't you mind your own business for once in your life?", I grumbled in annoyance, ending our conversation.

Finally we stood in front of the dungeon wall that opened into our common room while I whispered the password 'Serpens'. I quickly slipped through the first crevice the stones revealed and almost ran through the well-packed common room to the dormitory, not wanting to give Malfoy a chance to probe further.

Frustrated, I slammed the door behind me and was surprised to see that Lia was here too, as were Pansy and Millicent. I took a deep breath in and out as I walked to my bed, grabbed my book from the bedside table and made myself comfortable. Before opening to the page I last stopped at, I looked over at Lia and smiled at her. Contrary to my expectations, Lia did not return the smile, so I looked at her in confusion. But she just continued to stare at me and I was startled when she suddenly spoke.

"Parkinson, Bullstrode, get out of here now," she hissed without even looking at them.

"Why on earth would we listen to you?" asked Pansy provocatively, Millicent copying her facial expression.

"Get out now!" Lia shouted back, causing Pansy to roll her eyes.

"By Merlin's beard, Johnson, calm down. We're going already." Pansy said, rising from her bed and leaving the room; Millicent did all the same.

"Are you all right, Lia? Is something wrong with you and David? After all, you're usually with him-"

"Is everything okay with me?" she asked sarcastically, "The question is whether everything is okay with you, Anna."

"What are you talking about?", I asked, still confused by her behaviour.

"You had a thing with Malfoy again? I thought it was a one-time thing -"

"What makes you think that?", I interrupted her.

"Peeves said he overheard students talking about it and made up a song about it. He's been walking down some corridors for the last few hours doing nothing but singing about you cheating on Fred with Malfoy... at least that's the short version," she explained to me, upset.

Briefly, I considered denying everything because Peeves did nothing but cause trouble and was constantly thinking up some other bullshit way to get on people's nerves and start rumours. However, Lia was my best friend and I shouldn't lie to her, she didn't deserve that. So I gathered my courage and told her about everything that had happened between me and Malfoy and between me and Fred and that I didn't know what to do now.

When I had finished, I looked at my friend uncertainly. Lia didn't interrupt me once while I was explaining the confusing situation and my mixed feelings.

"Why didn't you tell me all this yourself in the first place? I'm your best friend, I could have helped you but it sucks to find out everything through other people. I need to let this sink in. I really thought I was more important to you," she said bluntly and as I was about to leave the dorm again, because I got angry and by now I just wanted to be alone.

"Why does everyone get mad at me for that? It's my life!", I shouted angrily at her without much understanding of why she was acting like this. She wasn't my girlfriend, she shouldn't be mad at me for that.

I slammed the door behind me and sighed loudly. "Stop staring at me all the time! Mind your own business!", I hissed at the Slytherins who were looking curiously in my direction, hoping they hadn't heard any of the conversation. After all, Peeves had already done enough damage with his grandiose song, so most of them could probably guess what it was about.

Everyone went back to doing what they were doing before. Everyone except one... I rolled my eyes as I noticed Malfoy's curious gaze on me and hurried to leave the dungeon in the process.

I ran randomly through the various corridors trying to get as far away from the common room as possible and it was well past curfew. However, I didn't care because that was the least of my problems at the moment.