Need [ dramione ]

Chapter 11

8 November 1998 - 4 Days After the Full Moon

"Mr Malfoy."

The voice rings out loud and clear, and he freezes in his steps. He didn't often walk this corridor, as it brought him close to Ravenclaw Tower, but on nights where he had Astronomy, he had few choices. There's no one else around, and he knows which office he is near... he had lingered outside of it far too often in Sixth Year.

This whole corridor, in fact, brings back a number of horrid memories.

"Headmistress," he says, turning to look at Professor McGonagall.

He had been expecting this, but the longer he had gone under the radar... well, he had honestly assumed that she had simply washed her hands of him, not really caring that he was skipping class, skipping meals, just... going through the motions.

It's long overdue, this talk between them, except... well, he knows that she knows about Granger. What he doesn't know... is whether or not she knows that he knows.

It's an exhausting thought, and he's ready to talk to someone about it. He can't get over the idea that she might have poisoned herself on purpose.

And the kiss - well...

The sex dreams had become something... more. Ever since that kiss, she was more active in the dreams, climbing atop him, her nails raking down his back, her body arching and begging, and he... he never saw her face, but it was Granger, and he-

"Mr Malfoy!" calls the Headmistress again, trying to snap his attention back onto her.

Almost immediately, his blood runs cold as he realizes, in horror, that he has once again lost himself in thought about Granger, naked in his bed... and this time, while the Headmistress is staring at him.

"Yes?" he finally says, approaching her and trying to get his heart to stop racing.

"I have been looking for you at meal times," she says, looking down at him.

He gives her a shrug and nothing more. Anyone that had been paying attention should have long ago noticed that he was never in the Great Hall when others were. Always the first in for breakfast, always the last in for dinner. Never lunch. It was too hard, given how many different schedules there were.

"Do not tell me that a growing boy such as you is skipping meals along with their classes," she says, as though actually concerned.

"According to the Ministry, I'm no longer a boy, Headmistress, but no worries, I'm growing just fine," he says with a roll of his eyes-

The look she fixes him tells him that she'll take none of his shit.

"Very well then, Mr. Malfoy. If you would like to be treated like a grown man, then, step into my office. We need to discuss your recent attendance, unless you would like to continue your probation behind bars."

A part of him wants to say yes - wouldn't it be easier? At least in Azkaban... well, the dementors were gone, at least, and he could sit in silence, no longer wondering what's going to kill him next, except... it would mean leaving Granger, and that... scares him, for some odd reason.

"Mr Malfoy!" she snaps.

He jumps forward, following after her, certainly looking more like a scolded boy rather than a man, but - he doesn't have to tell anyone about this.

He sits down across from the desk once in the Headmistress's office, determined to not look at the wall of portraits. He had been in the office a few times during the previous year, before he had been kept back at the Manor. He knew what was behind him. He knew what he didn't want, or need, to see.