Denying Draco

46 - The Only One

Sunday arrived and Poppy had began to convince herself that Draco was never coming back. The thought of it worried her deeply, as much as she knew he didn't deserve her concern.

After a weekend spent in the dorm, she finished her classes on Monday and returned to the common room where she curled up in the armchair with her Potions textbook, trying to focus on doing some studying. The door opened and in walked Ginny, quickly and abruptly, and she stopped in front of Poppy.

'He's back,' Ginny said, out of breath from the hurry.

Poppy threw down the book to the floor and jumped to her feet. 'Who's back?'

'Draco is back,' Ginny told her.

A smile of relief crept onto her face unknowingly, and she quickly pressed her lips together. 'Where is he?'

'I saw him leaving Snape's office about ten minutes ago,' Ginny told her. 'I followed him. I think he went to the library.'

'And Goyle?' Poppy asked, nervously. 'Have you seen him?'

'No sign of him,' Ginny replied.

Poppy nodded. 'I have to go.'

She hurried out of the common room and bolted quickly through the corridors of the school, climbing the staircase two at a time until she reached the first floor and she hurried down to the library.

Once inside, Madam Pince gave her a welcoming smile and she returned it, strolling through the library as casually as possible, looking across every table for sign of him.

Diverting down an aisle, she hurried through it and up the next one, glancing side to side for him but to no avail. She turned into the next one, seeing a swish of robes disappear at the bottom and she ran, reaching the bottom of the aisle and turning to see a young boy and girl kissing at the end of it. 'Oh! I'm so sorry!'

They both frowned at her and hurried off, leaving her standing feeling embarrassed. She dropped her head into her hand and calmed herself. She was getting worked up and she had no idea why. She only knew that she hadn't seen Draco for nearly a week now since he had stormed out of the common room and she needed to know what had happened in between.

She turned back down the aisle, making her way back to the front of the library where students were quietly studying and then, she saw him. He was standing with a book in his hand, waiting to have it checked out by Madam Pince behind another student. His eyes were focused down at the ground and his expression looked tired. His uniform was creased and his hair was messy, not gelled in its usual smart style.

Poppy stood in the middle of the library and thought up what to do. She didn't feel like she could approach him in front of everyone. Instead, she walked around him and left the library, feeling better now that she had seen him for herself and knew that he was okay. He looked drained, but he was okay.

Once she was out of the library, she leaned against the wall and took heavy breaths, resting her forehead on her palm as she composed herself.

'Not even a hello then?' Draco's gentle voice asked from behind her.

She spun around slowly and when she saw his face, her own slightly crumbled. 'Hello.'

He let out the lightest, quickest breath of laughter but he didn't smile. He looked too tired to smile.

'Why did you run away?' he asked.

'I...' She searched for an answer and she shrugged. 'I don't know.'

She noticed a deep scratch on his cheek and a light purple bruise under his eye. 'Who did that to you?'

'It's nothing you need to know about,' he replied.