A Thousand Years [Harry Potter]

Chapter 16 - Allying with Past Nemeses

Draco pounded the stone for several minutes as his heart hammered in anxiety and urgency. Where is that blasted girl? He really needed to talk to her. He already figured that she knew what happened outside and inside the Room of Requirement the night before, he just needed to know exactly what would come after. He needed to know if Hermione, or him, for that matter, would get harmed by the Dark Lord. Everything would be fine, Annabelle said, but was that really the case? She never saw Hermione getting beaten up. Who knew what other things she didn't see... or saw, it just turned out differently eventually.

He cantered down the corridors, passing people as they headed to breakfast, and his school robes billowed as he went. He had walked about the whole castle and hadn't seen his ghost friend... but he hadn't checked the area where he met Rowena Ravenclaw. He went down some stairs and through a couple of corridors and stopped. There, near the entrance to the corridor where he met the first Ravenclaw, was Annabelle talking with the very ghost woman. The two smiled as they talked, and Rowena put a hand on Annabelle's cheek, tears in her eyes. She brought her into an embrace and held her there for a moment. Draco watched, somewhat awed, at the first encounter these two had in one thousand years. It touched his heart a bit, making a small smile stretch his lips. He would let them talk for a little while longer until he goes up and demands of Annabelle what happens next in her vision.

He watched the two converse as he leaned against the cold stone wall, arms folded. Living or not, women could talk. His mother and her friends could talk for hours on end, and about nothing. And these two hadn't seen each other for one thousand years, so they most likely had a lot of things to catch up on. Maybe a after few more minutes and he would go up to them.

They talked on, with him not hearing what they were saying, and he let out an impatient huff through his nose. There were no other students around since none of them wanted to be in an area where a ghost lingered. Well, this one, that is. He heard people say that Rowena could be intimidating. He experienced that himself when he first met her, but now, he didn't think twice of coming here, mainly since he had a mission, a mission that Rowena knew about. Annabelle probably told her all about what happened so far in that vision of hers, about what came to pass. He might as well ask Annabelle what he needed to with Rowena present.

He leaned there a little longer as the two ghost women talked, and he heard the bell gong to signal the start of breakfast. Enough waiting. He leaned off the stone wall and walked up to the ghosts. Rowena saw him first. "Well, hello again, Mr. Malfoy."

Annabelle turned to face him and she gave him a dazzling smile. "Good morning, Draco! Oh my goodness, it has been the most wonderful morning! I finally came to say hello to my dear cousin, and oh, what a sweet reunion it has been! My shame of how I died vanished and I finally got the nerve to face her, and I'm so glad that I did! We were both aching to see one another."

"I'm glad to hear it, Annabelle," he said to her, really meaning it, then to Rowena, "And hello again to you, too, Rowena."

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy. And I hear that things are going rather well for you and a certain girl right now. This vision of Annabelle's seems to be coming to pass every wit." She winked.

He felt heat on the back of his neck, knowing what Annabelle had been telling Rowena. That heated kiss flashed in his memory and he cleared his throat. He kept his arms folded over his robes. "Yes, I admit that things happened that I would never have imagined happening."

"Yes, and I saw every one of them," Annabelle said triumphantly. Her eyes turned playfully sly. "Why do you think I insisted that I bring Hermione into that corridor last night, hm? I knew exactly what would happen next."

That heat on the back of his neck intensified and rose up to his cheeks. "Aright, alright, I get it. Now, there's something I need to ask you, Annabelle, and I want you to give me an honest answer, without refusing to tell me."