Project 137.43.M.D.

XX. | ERROR IN PERSONA

XX.
ERROR IN PERSONA
(incorrect impression)

Granger sat on his sofa with bent legs, her slender fingers curled around the teacup he had just handed her. She was still trembling and had wrapped herself tightly in a blanket that Draco had never used before.

Draco sipped his own tea, slightly shivering, while the rain pelted loudly against the window pane. The shock still gripped him to the marrow, too. He could hardly believe the intensity with which the relief had flooded through him when he had realized that the spell he had yelled in desperation had actually served its purpose.

Granger had been oddly absent-minded ever since they had left the little forest and returned to his apartment. He had the feeling that she was thinking hard about something, but he couldn't guess, by no stretch of his imagination, what that was. For some reason he didn't dare ask her about it either.

"You were incredibly lucky, Granger," he stated quietly after a while and she blinked, confused.

"I wasn't lucky. You cast the spell. All credit belongs to you," she murmured, and Draco heard her teeth rattling with every word.

"It was still luck, though, because it was the bloody first time I managed to cast anything. I didn't even have faith in myself."

He couldn't prevent a touch of anger in his voice, although he had no reason to snap at her. After all, it had been his fault that she had fallen in the first place. He had suggested the race, he had teased her, and he had ignored her warnings. It had to be the shock that made him rant at her now, but she skillfully ignored it anyway.

"I wonder why your magic came back at that precise moment. Maybe it was the flying."

She stared into space and seemed to be seriously contemplating what made Draco roll his eyes. Like it was so important to fathom that of all things. That was so typical of Granger. She didn't notice his reaction and just continued.

"It's possible, right? Technically, using a broom is doing magic, except you don't need to cast a spell for it. Maybe it was enough to get your magic back on track. I could have figured that earlier."

Draco grunted in disinterest and rubbed his face. Unlike her, he actually gave a fuck, why his magic had come back. The important thing was that it had come back. Otherwise he could have scraped Granger off the forest ground and that was an image that made him so uncomfortable that he shuddered involuntarily.

To distract himself, he tentatively raised his wand and whispered a Wingardium Leviosa. The cushion he was aiming for immediately lifted off the sofa and Draco let it float across the room. So it hadn't been a one-off; he could actually do magic again.

A small smile curled Granger's lips, encouraging him to ask the question he suspected she wouldn't answer anyway.

"How long did it take for your magic to come back?"

"A few months," she replied promptly.

He lowered his wand and looked at her intently. The cushion fell to the floor. Granger didn't look upset, and suddenly Draco was sure that (whatever had made her change her mind) she was going to talk about it to him now.

"Why did you lose it, Granger?" he asked quietly, fixing his gaze on her.

Granger first took a small sip of her tea and frowned. Then she turned her head and looked out the window at the dreary sky, before she opened her mouth.

"As you already know, it happened right after school," she began.

Draco nodded. He could remember. She had mentioned it the day he had first attempted the Summoning Charm. Just before she had stormed out of his apartment so incredibly angry.