A Harry Potter Fanfic

Chapter 36

---------- Chapter 36 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

               “I should go,” Draco whispers after a moment of silence.

I nod my head in acknowledgement. He bends down, kisses me on the cheek before sweeping down the cobblestone path.

I watch his retreating figure, wondering whether we had made the right decision after all. I love Draco, so very much...but, what if he is right? What if we just aren’t meant to be together? Then again, he could be wrong, couldn’t he? We could be absolutely perfect for each other; yet every time something goes wrong we just give up on each other.

I pull my coat around me tighter and trudge back up to the castle. There really is no point standing around Hogsmeade.

***

               “Hey,” Nate murmurs softly, sinking down into the armchair beside me.

               “Hi,” I mumble back, still lost in my own thoughts.

               “So...how did it go?” he asks after a moment of staring at me.

The moment he asks, the shock set in. Draco and I really did just break up, didn’t we?

               “Umm, we broke up,” I mumble, swallowing hard.

               “Ouch. You want to talk about it?” he offers kindly.

               “No, I’m fine, thanks,” I murmur, pulling my legs onto the seat and wrapping my arms around them.

               “Maybe you should head to bed? You look kind of...sick,” he whispers, brushing a lock of hair out of my face.

And the moment his finger grazes the skin on my face, it feels as if I’ve been shocked. There’s this immediate connection I feel, almost what I feel whenever Draco touches me.

               “Yeah, bed,” I mumble, jumping off the armchair and walking as quickly as possible up the stairs.

What the hell was that?!

***

I could barely sleep last night. Every time I closed my eyes I could only see Draco walking away from me, not even bothering to glance back. When I finally did fall asleep it was nearly six in the morning! Needless to say, I’m completely and totally late! No, late doesn’t even begin to describe what I am! It’s lunch time! I missed all my morning classes! Crap!

I run down the stairs to the Great Hall, hoping beyond hope nobody would realise I had only just woken up.

Lunch is in full swing when I enter the huge double doors. Out of habit, I throw a quick glance at the Slytherin table, as if by some miracle, time had gone backwards and Draco would be sitting there talking to his group of friends.

Snapping myself back to reality, I quickly cross the hall to the Gryffindor table. Nate sits alone, looking rather pissed off for some reason. And I don’t really understand why, but I can’t help myself from walking over to where he is and sitting down in the empty spot beside him.

               “You okay?” I ask, reaching around him to get at the roasted chicken.

               “No,” he spits sourly, stabbing at his chicken brutally.

               “Why? What happened?” I ask, trying to hide my concern.

               “Your boyfriend happened, that’s what,” he continues.