Summer Holiday

Chapter 14

Sophie
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Sophie sat on her bed trying to process what possible reason Draco Malfoy could be staying down the hall from her.

She was already having trouble talking to Sirius. Throwing in another person to interact with everyday would be torture. She laid back on her bed and let out a long sigh. Her eyelids began to grow heavy until the room faded into darkness.

Light began to creep into her bedroom causing her to shift in her sleep. She woke up with stiff muscles and a slight headache. She slowly sat up and clutched her head as she looked down at herself. She had slept in her clothes from yesterday and her hair was matted into a mess on the back of her head. Sophie pushed herself out of bed and headed for the door. She opened her bedroom door and stepped out into the dark hallway. She shuffled her feet along the wooden floor until she reached the bathroom door. There was a faint light lining the bottom of the door and the bathroom door was shut. She furrowed her brows and scratched her head as she turned to the left. Sirius' door was still clasped shut. She turned her head to the right to see Draco's bedroom door open. She peaked her head inside to see the bed was messy. Besides the bed there were no belongings in the bedroom. Everything was a dull gray and matched accordingly. It reminded her of her fathers bedroom. Her father never kept many belongings and had a knack for decorating the house with boring and dull shades of gray. A surge of guilt began to rise in her belly as she stared at the bedroom in front of her. She nervously chewed her cheek before turning down the hallway and stepping back inside her bedroom.

The door quietly clicked as she latched it shut and closed her eyes. She swallowed before turning around and opening her eyes to observe the scene in front of her. She looked around the room at the brightly colored blue and silver banners and posters and began to feel a strange tingling rising in her throat. Her breathing was growing sporadic and her knees began to wobble. The room was turning into a blue blur as she clenched her fists tightly at her sides.

Breathe. Just breathe.

A large lump was forming in her stomach and she felt as if she had just dropped a hundred feet in the air.

Breathe you idiot.

Her knees gave out and she collapsed to the floor, barely putting her palms flat on the ground, narrowly avoiding smashing her face into the wooden floor. She couldn't get a grasp on her breathing and felt herself panicking as it was growing increasingly difficult to obtain a full breath of air. She clenched her eyes shut while trying to think about anything but her father. Images of her father kept swimming through her mind. The pictures in her brain were growing increasingly violent as she began to recall the last night spent in her childhood home. A knock at her bedroom door swung her back into reality.

"Sophie? Are you awake? Can I come in?"

Sirius.

She wanted to shout for him to go away. To shout for him to help her ground herself. To shout for him to leave her alone. To shout for him to pull her out of the drowning sensation she was feeling.

"Sophie?" Sirius asked concernedly. "Are you alright?"

The door knob began to twist slightly. "I'm coming in." Sirius said turning the doorknob entirely.

Sirius opened the door slightly to find Sophie on the ground with her hands on the floor and her wide eyes filled with tears.

"What's happening to me?" She managed to whimper.

Sirius collapsed beside her and placed a hand on her back. "Can you tell me what's wrong?" Sirius asked examining her for any physical injuries.

"I.....I can't.......I can't breathe." She motioned to her throat as tears began to escape her eyes.